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ERMONS 


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SECOND    EDITION,    ENLARGED. 


FOURTEEN 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Rev.     SAMUEL    RUTHERFORD. 


By  Rev.  ANDREW  A.  BONAR,  D.D. 


^^fX\ 


GLASGOW: 

CHARLES  GLASS  &  CO.,  85  MAXWELL   STREET. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Preface,             . .            . .            . .            . .  , .  5 

Sermon  I. — Revelation  xix.  11,  12,  13,  14,     . ,  ,,  7 

Sermon  II. — Zechariah  xiii.  7,  8,  9,                . .  . .  27 

Sermon  III. — Zechariah  xiii.  7,  8,  9,              . .  . .  46 

Sermon  IV. — Luke  xiv.  16,  17,  &c.,               ..  ..  60 

Sermon  V. — Hebrews  xii.  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,           . .  . .  89 

Sermon  VI. — Isaiah  xlix.  i,  2,  3,  4,                . .  . .  115 

Sermon  VII. — Zechariah  xi.  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  ..  144 

Sermon  VIII. — John  xx.  13,  14,  15,  16,  17,  18,  ..  175 

Sermon  IX. — Song  of  Solomon  v.  i,  2,  &c., . .  . .  200 

Sermon  X. — Revelation  xxi.  4,  5,  6,  7,           . .  . .  223 

Seemon  XL— Canticles  ii.  14,  17,     ..             ..  ..  250 

Address  XII.— Christ's  Love  and  Loveliness,  ..    *    278 

Sermon  XIII. — Revelation  xiv.  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  Sec,    ..  291 

Sermon  XIV.— Canticles  ii.  8-12,    . .             . .  . .  315 


^>^ 


ALL  who  relish  "Samuel  Rutherford's  Letters" 
will  welcome  the  reprint  of  this  volume,  entitled, 
when  first  printed,  "  Collection  of  Valuable  Sermons 
Preached  by  him  at  Sacramental  Occasions,  in  the 
years  1630,  1634,  and  1637."  I  have  added  two 
discourses  to  the  collection,  one  preached  in  1630, 
and  another  in  1633,  ^^^  ^^^^  what  is  commonly 
called  a  Communion  Address,  delivered  in  London. 

All  breathe  the  same  spirit  as  the  famous  "  Letters," 
and  are  full  of  racy  remark  and  illustration,  bearing  on 
scriptural  doctrine  and  Christian  experience. 

The  Sermons  were  not  published  by  himself,  but 
from  the  notes  of  hearers,  and  so  there  are  some 
awkward  sentences  and  clauses.  But  still  they  are 
exceedingly  valuable.  The  first  nine  sermons  were 
originally  printed  at  Glasgow,  "from  an  old  manu- 
script." The  rest  have  frequently  appeared  in  various 
forms.  A  Sermon,  which  bears  the  title,  "  T/ie  Cruel 
Watchnian^^  and  a  fragment,  "  Chris fs  Voice  from 
Heave7i''  are  not  genuine,  and  so  are  not  included  in 
this  collection.  His  only  other  Sermons  are  that  on 
Luke  viii.  22,  preached  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
1644,  arid  that  on  Daniel  vi.  26,  preached  before  the 
House  of  Lords,  1645. 

ANDREW  A.  BONAR. 


Glasgow,  1876. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


'nr^HE  first  issue  of  two  thousand  copies  has  been 
"^  sold  off  within  a  year.  In  the  meantime,  two 
more  of  S.  Rutherford's  Sacramental  Sermons  have 
been  sent  to  the  Editor  by  friends  who  had  them  in 
their  possession,  and  were  happy  to  offer  this  addition 
to  the  First  Twelve.     They  are  given  in  this  volume. 

ANDREW  A.  BONAR. 
Glasgow,  1877. 


COMMUNION   SERMONS. 


'-^^©-^^-a^^ 


SERMON        I  /'" 

And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  a  whit:  horse;  and  he  that 
sat  upon  him  was  called  Faithful  and  True,  and  in  righteous- 
ness he  doth  judge  and  viake  war,  cr'r. — Revelation  xix.  ii, 

12,   13,    14. 

CHRIST  is  here  brought  in  triumphing  on  horse- 
back, and  His  armies  following  Him  upon  white 
horses.  Here  Christ  is  discovered  gloriously  :  i.  From 
His  triumph,  071  horseback,  2.  From  His  style,  Faith- 
ful and  True,  3.  From  His  righteousness  in  govern- 
meiiL  4.  From  His  head,  His  eyes,  His  7iame,  His 
habit,  His  convoy,  His  power  of  the  sword,  and  His 
high  style,  KIJSiG  OF  KINGS,  o^c,  which  are  all 
here  set  down. 

Before  ever  John  see  this  triumph  of  Christ  over 
Antichrist,  he  sees  "Heaven  opened,''  which  shews 
him  a  new  revelation.  For,  until  God  open  the  door, 
and  glance  t  from  heaven  with  new  light,  we  never  do 
certamly  believe  that  Christ  shall  win  the  battle.     If 

♦  This  Sermon  was  preached -at  Kirkcudbright  m  Galloway, 
upon  a  day  of  thanksgiving. 
t  Shine  bright. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS 


God's  door  be  closed,  and  our  eyes  be  darkened,  we 
think  we  see  Christ  going  on  foot,  persecuted  and 
banished,  and  put  to  the  worse ;  then  we  begin  to 
droop  and  die,  and  cast  away  our  confidence,  as  Elias 
did.  But  we  have  faith  and  hope  when  a  window  is 
opened  in  heaven  to  give  us  light,  but  until  then,  no 
marvei  the  saints  have  their  faith  to  seek.  David  said. 
One  day  or  other,  I  shall  fall  by  the  hand  of  Saul ; 
and  yet  he  had  that  promise,  that  he  should  live  and 
be  king.  He  had  then  many  experiences ;  how 
comes  this  then,  that  he  was  in  the  dark?  Here  is  a 
reason  ;  God  had  closed  the  door.  We  think  no  more 
of  our  trouble,  but  at  first '^  by  faith  and  hope  to  open 
our  King's  door,  and  in  to  Him,  and  be  stayed  with 
flagons,  and  comforted  with  apples.  No,  but  God 
will  cause  His  children  to  come  and  stand,  and  pant, 
and  cry,  and  wait  upon  an  open  door.  And  yet  they 
are  believing  though  they  know  it  not,  they  are  waiting 
on  for  faith  though  they  know  it  not ;  and  howbeit 
they  think  they  believe  not,  yet  that  is  believing  to  one 
of  His  children.  And  therefore  howbeit  our  Lord  keep 
a  good  house.  His  children  will  get  leave  to  sleep  and 
mourn  twenty-four  hours  for  bread.  God  loves  a 
hungry  child  that's  aye  crying  for  bread.  Nay,  I  say 
it  is  more  glory  to  God,  to  knock  a  while  at  a  locked 
door,  than  if  the  door  were  open  to  us  night  and  day. 
We  see  not  that  hunger  is  often  better  for  us  than  a 
full  stomach.  In  hunger  we  seek  and  cry,  and  it 
pleases  God ;  but  when  we  are  full,  we  can  lay  our- 
selves down  in  the  sun  and  fall  asleep. 

''And  behold  a  white  horse;  a7id  he  that  sat  upon 
him  zuas  called  Faithful  and  Truer — Here  we  have  a 
glorious  description  of  Christ;  as  also  in  Song  iii.  lo; 

*  At  once. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Col.  i.  15,  t6,  17  ;  Rev.  iii.  14.  And  wherefore  is  all 
this?  I  think  it  is  a  putting  Christ  to  open  market,  a 
commending  of  Him  as  highly  worth  the  buying.  What 
think  ye  of  Him?  Well,  is  He  not  a  lovely  one,  a 
sweet  excellent  person  ?  Saw  ye  ever  the  like  of  Him? 
(I  will  talk  of  this  and  the  convoy,  and  let  you  see 
both  together).  AVhere  is  Christ  ?  He  is  triumphing 
upon  a  white  horse,  and  the  saints,  His  armies  at  His 
back,  following  Him  on  horseback  in  white.  Here 
indeed  is  a  fair  company  of  horsemen,  all  in  white ! 
Here  all  are  in  one  livery ;  Christ  is  the  Captain  or 
Colonel,  and  all  His  company.  His  armies  with  Him. 
Christ  and  all  His  Elect  are  a  fair  company  together, 
and  a  well-favoured  sight.  ^' And  I  looked,  and  lo,  a 
Lamb  stood  on  the  mount  Zion,  and  with  him  an 
hundred  forty  and  four  thousand,  having  his  Father's 
name  wTitten  in  their  foreheads ''  (Rev.  xiv.  i).  "Be- 
hold, I  and  the  children  whom  thou  hast  given  me'' 
(Isa.  viii.  18).  I  think  he  would  say.  Am  not  I  and 
my  children  a  pleasant  sight  ?  Judge  ye  then  what  a 
sight  it  will  be  at  the  last  day,  when  Christ,  having 
ended  His  court,  and  the  saints  have  met  Him  in  the 
air,  He  and  they  shall  go  back  again  to  heaven,  and 
He  shall  come  in  at  the  door  with  such  majesty,  and 
all  the  first-born,  the  fair  bairn-tene,"^  the  whole  Elect, 
nations,  tongues,  languages  and  people,  that  none  can 
number,  at  His  back,  every  one  of  them  as  fair  as  the 
sun !  And  He  shall  present  them  as  a  gift  to  the 
Father.  "After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multi- 
tude, which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes, 
and  palms  in  their  hands"   (Rev.  vii.  9).     In  very 

Family. 


lo  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


deed,  then,  he  is  a  happy  man  who  is  amongst  them ; 
for  that  must  be  a  glad  meeting  for  evermore,  when 

)we  shall  meet  with  the  Bridegroom.  This  white  horse 
that  Christ  rides  on,  teaches  nothing  else  than  that  He 
triumphs  in  Himself,  and  His  cause  and  truth.  He 
rode  through  death  and  hell,  and  was  never  thrown  off 
the  saddle.  Nay,  upon  the  cross,  "having  spoiled 
principalities  and  pov/ers,  He  made  a  show  of  them 

,    openly,  triumphing   over  them    in   it"   (Col.  ii.   15). 

1  "  I  am  He  that  liveth,  and  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I 
am  alive  for  evermore.  Amen ;  and  have  the  keys  of 

I  hell  and  of  death"  (Rev.  i.  t8).  Here  is  Christ  rid- 
ing over  hell  and  death  upon  His  triumphant  horse, 
and  breaking  the  wards,  and  taking  the  keys  of  the 
prison  with  Him.  And  is  He  not  daily  posting  upon 
this  horse  ?  Has  He  not  ridden  like  a  victorious  Lord 
through  Germany,  and  sparkled  dirt  upon  the  Beast's 
face,  and  the  false  Prophet  ?  Ye  will  say,  Christ  loseth 
a  battle  sometimes.  I  grant  you,  Christ's  horse  seems 
to  snapper*  sometimes,  and  is  upon  his  knees,  but  he 
doth  not  fall.  Nay,  even  when  the  woman  is  chased, 
by  the  Dragon,  to  the  wilderness,  Christ  keeps  the 
saddle  and  bridle ;  the  devil  cannot  lay  Him  on  the 
breadth  of  His  back,  and  take  His  horse  from  Him. 
The  horse  seemed  to  lose  a  stroke  in  a  mire,  when 
Christ  cried,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?"  and  when  the  Kirk  was  in  captivity,  at  the 
river  of  Babel,  weeping  like  a  poor  silly  captive.  But 
believe  me,  Christ  will  win  the  race,  and  will  get  the 
gold,  t  and  we  shall  get  a  part  of  it.  Christ  in  His 
members  will  get  a  fall,  but  He  will  rise  again  and  win 
the  field,  say  all  what  ye  will.  He  will  yet  ride  in 
Scotland,  and  win  the  race.     Ken  ye  what  He  said  ? 

Stumble.  +  The  prize. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  n 


(2  Cor.  iv.  9),    "Persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  cast 
down,  but  not  destroyed." 

"  Faithfid  and  Truer— ^o  is  He  called  the  Faithful 
and  True  witness,  the  Amen,  who  spake  the  truth 
betwixt  God  and  us,  and  told  us  all  that  ever  He  heard 
of  the  Father.  And  these  styles  the  Lord  Jesus  gets 
because  all  the  promises  of  God,  made  to  us,  are 
fastene_d^  to  Christ,  as  so  many  bonds  that  God  has 
given  us  in "^  the  gospel.  Says  Christ,  "He  that 
believeth  on  Me,  is  passed  from  death  to  life; — he 
that  loveth  Me,  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father ;  and  we 
will  come  into  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him ; — 
he  that  overcometh,  shall  eat  of  the  tree  of  life." 
Christ's  name  is  in  all  the  bonds,  in  all  the  bargains 
betwixt  God  and  us.  Christ  is  aye  one,  and  He  is  a 
Cautioner,  not  only  for  us  but  with  us ;  for  God 
challenged  Him  for  our  debt,  and  He,  as  Faithful  and 
True,  answered  without  bout-gates,*  and  was  very 
honest  in  His  word  to  His  Father.  He  is  (let  me 
speak  so)  God's  Cautioner  to  us,  taking  on  Him  that 
God  shall  keep  true  to  us.  This  is  a  point  not  con- 
sidered as  it  should  be  by  us;  for  there  is  not  a 
promise  made  to  the  true  believer,  but  he  may 
challenge  Christ  for  it  by  law ;  though  it  is  the  law  of 
the  new  Covenant.  But  in  this  good  sense,  Christ  is 
God's  debtor,  and  He  is  become  our  debtor.  Indeed 
Christ  is  fastened  in  the  Mediator's  chair  and  offices, 
with  strong  nails  and  iron  wedges,  on  both  sides  :  God 
hath  bound  Him  by  law.  "For  the  Lord  God  will 
help  me ;  therefore  shall  I  not  be  confounded ;  there- 
fore have  I  set  my  face  like  a  flint,  and  I  know  that  I 
shall  not  be  ashamed"  (Isaiah  1.  7).  There  Christ  says, 
I  am  bound,  but  I  hope  I  shall  not  die  in  my  bonds  : 

*  Evasion. 


12  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


I  shall  be  true  both  to  God  and  man  :  I  hope  I  shall 
have  no  shame  of  my  handy-works.  Then  we  are  far 
in  the  wrong  to  Christ,  when  we  believe  not.  Nay, 
ye  say  ye  dare  not  yet  believe.  Ye  say  ye  are  aye 
doubting.  Ken  ye  what  ye  say,  when  ye  say  that? 
Ye  are  even  saying,  I  fear  Christ  play  me  a  slip  :  I 
fear  Christ  be  but  a  false  promiser.  I  say  it  is  wrong 
to  believe  a  falsehood  of  an  honest  man;  for,  thou 
that  wilt  not  believe  the  promises,  thou  art  saying  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  but  a  double^  dyvour  :  *^  He  that 
believeth  not  God,  hath  made  Him  a  liar"  (i  John 
V.  lo).  Now  when  the  text  says  Christ  is  Faithful  and 
True,  this  is  the  King  s  broad  seal  for  your  salvation ; 
and  aye  the  truer  Christ  be,  it  is  the  better  for  you. 
For  when  in  judgment  your  salvation  is  questioned, 
and  your  sins  come  in  f  reckoning,  whether  they  be 
satisfied  for,  or  not,  ye  may  see  an  easy  way.  Say  ye, 
Lord,  ask  at  Christ,  the  faithful  witness,  if  they  be  not 
taken  away.  Christ  is  one  of  the  sworn  men  (if  we 
may  so  speak)  upon  His  conscience  for  clearing  of  you, 
and  He  is  Faithful  and  True,  and  will  tell  the  truth. 
And  will  Christ  get  it  denied,  what  scourges,  whips, 
and  strokes.  He  suffered  for  you?  Nay,  indeed  we 
\  have  gotten,  I  think,  a  strong  hold  of  salvation,  when 
I  we  have  gotten  it  laid  over  on  Christ  the  Faithful  and 
True.  It  is  much  that  a  faithful  man  is  in  office,  and 
that  he  keeps  all  the  writs  in  the  country ;  and  if  he 
keeps  the  register  who  is  faithful,  true,  and  an  honest 
witness,  then  all  the  writs  and  charters  are  safe.  The 
writs  you  and  I  have  for  heaven,  are  all  in  Christ's 
hand,  and  ye  should  aye  be  looking  them  over. 

"  In  righteousness  He  doth  judge  and  make  war^ — 
He  rendereth  to  every  man  according  to  his  works; 

Deceitful.  f  Come  into  account. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


13 


but  in  battles  amongst  men,  much  blood  is  spilt,  false- 
hood, and  violence  used,  while  those  who  may  be 
strongest,  whether  it  be  right  or  not,  keep  the  field. 
Nay  in  very  deed,  are  not  kingdoms  often  ruined  by  . 
opposite  parties,  who  rent  them  in  pieces  amongst 
them?  As  to  Nebuchadnezzar's,  the  Medes,  and 
Persians  did.  They  draw  it  among  them,  and  the 
thing  they  get  is  a  fine  web  of  linen,  a  bit  of  a  king- 
dom with  an  ill  conscience,  which  never  does  them 
good.  They  are  like  so  many  men  striving  about  a 
leme  ^  vessel ;  he  draws,  and  he  draws,  and  the  one 
pulls  the  side  from  the  vessel,  and  breaks  it  in  pieces : 
So  conquerors,  when  they  have  subdued  a  kingdom, 
are  like  those  who  get  the  leme  vessel,  that  seldom 
bides  the  second  heir.  Christ  makes  not  war  with  the 
shedding  of  innocent  blood ;  when  He  takes  in  a  city, 
He  plays  not  foul  play  as  other  captains  do,  where 
often  the  soldier's  right  to  a  country  is  by  the  point  of 
the  sword;  for  there  is  no  difference  betwixt  his  sword, 
his  conscience,  and  his  musket.  But  it  is  not  so  with 
Christ.  How  then?  i.  When  Christ  takes  in  a  city, 
nation  or  country.  He  has  God's  right  to  it,  and  His 
Father's  promise  of  it  (Psalm  ii.  8;  Psalm  Ixxii.  8). 
**  He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from 
the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  2.  When  besieged 
men  render  and  give  up  themselves  to  Christ,  O  !  but 
they  get  good  quarters  from  Him  !  They  live  and  are 
not  made  captives,  but  kings  and  priests  to  God. 
Christ's  captives  have  a  king's  life  of  it.  3.  Christ 
makes  not  war  in  a  passion,  but  sweetly  to  His  people 
in  the  end,  though  seemingly  bitter  at  the  first.  But 
when  Christ's  enemies  who  get  the  worse,  are  all 
driven  to  pieces  with  a  rod  of  iron,  they  have  no 

Leme  is  clay  or  earthenware. 


14 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


comfort ;  yet  He  hath  done  them  no  wrong,  He  hath 
made  His  war  in  righteousness.  Then  ye  who  are 
His  enemies  shall  never  be  cured  nor  healed  again, 
nor  yet  by  Him  pitied;  nay,  let  Christ  drive  an  enemy 
all  to  flinders,  He  doth  it  by  laws  God  bade  Him.  Who 
will  then  gather  them  or  mend  them  ?  Oh  !  there  is 
no  balm,  no  cure  for  the  mending  of  Christ's  wounds 
again.  But  there  is  sweetness,  and  comfort  to  those 
whom  Christ  takes  in,  and  sets  on  to  win  them  to  the 
obedience  of  the  gospel.  He  has  good  right  to  you, 
and  has  God's  warrant  to  have  you.  Has  Christ 
fought  a  battle  with  the  devil  and  sin,  and  hath  He 
won  you  ?  Then  He  hath  better  right  to  you  than  you 
have  to  the  coat  on  your  back.  Be  glad  ye  are  His 
own ;  He  wan  you  with  the  sweat  of  His  brow.  It  is 
true,  ye  deserve  not  Christ,  but  indeed  He  deserves 
you;  therefore  be  glad  and  humble,  for  Christ  will  not 
want  His  own.  Who  can  rob,  spoil,  and  oppress 
Christ  ?  I  know  well  He  is  able  to  hold  His  own  with 
the  best  of  them.  Then  fear  not  that  ye  be  lost,  for 
Christ's  right  cannot  be  broken,  God  must  give  Him 
justice  and  law,  and  by  law  you  are  His ;  for  open 
market-right  is  a  good  right,  and  Christ  has  that 
of  you. 

Verse  12. — ^^  His  eyes  were  as  aflame  offlrer — Fire 
flies  out  of  His  eyes,  to  cause  His  enemies  flee  and 
hide  themselves.  "  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
the  great  men,  and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief 
captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every  bond  man, 
and  every  free  man,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens,  and  in 
the  rocks  of  the  mountains ;  and  said  to  the  mountains 
and  rocks,  Fall  upon  us,  and  hide  us  from  the 
face  of  the  Lamb"  (Rev.  vi.  15,  16).  What  is  the 
matter  they  are  so  afraid,  when  Christ  had  not  as  yet 
laid  a  finger-end  upon  them  ?     What  then,  saw  they  in 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


15 


His  fiery  eyes  ?  They  saw  fire  in  His  face  :  Hide  us, 
say  they,  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  from  the  wTath  of  the  Lamb.  "There 
went  up  a  smoke  out  of  His  nostrils,  and  fire  out  of 
His  mouth  :  coals  were  kindled  by  it ''  (Psalm  xviii.  8). 
When  there  is  such  a  fire  and  anger  in  His  face,  how 
soon,  with  a  frown  of  His  countenance,  will  He  make 
the  hearts  of  His  enemies  to  melt  like  wax  ?  And  this 
fire  of  His  eyes  will  soon  burn  up  the  chaff  and 
stubble.  A  glance  of  His  fiery  eye  made  Belshazzar's 
knees  to  shake  and  strike  one  against  another.  Then 
what  wisdom  is  it  for  men  to  be  sporting  with  Christ, 
and  pulling  at  His  Crown,  and  playing  with  His 
Sceptre  ?  Surely  I  think  them  like  a  child  thrusting 
up  a  stick  in  the  nose  of  a  sleeping  lion,  and  pulling 
his  beard ;  which  is  no  wise  play.  Is  it  good  play  for 
fools  (like  bairns)  to  be  sporting  and  playing  with  the 
Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah?  I  think  they  are  now 
scorning  Christ,  and  breaking  a  jest  upon  Him;  but 
one  stroke  of  His  paw,  one  of  Chrisf  s  roars  when  He 
is  angry,  will  cause  them  all  to  take  a  back-side.  Fire 
shall  go  before  Him,  and  shall  devour  and  burn  all 
His  enemies. 

"  And  071  His  head  were  many  crownsT — I  tell  thee 
or  ever*  I  go  further,  O  believer,  thou  need  not  think 
shame  of  thy  master.  Saul  went  to  the  devil  in  the 
night ;  but  he  that  seri^eth  Christ  may  not  think  shame 
of  his  master ;  he  may  think  it  an  honour  to  go  to 
Him  in  fair  day-light.  He  is  more  than  a  double 
king.  For  as  He  is  God  essential  with  the  Father  and 
Holy  Spirit,  He  is  an  honourable  Lord.  All  the  king- 
doms of  the  earth  are  His;  all  the  cro^vns  in  the 
world ;  (of  Britain,  France,  Spain,  Israel  and  Judah, 

*  Ere  ever. 


1 6  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


and  tell*  until  the  morn),  they  are  all  Christ's  as  God 
Creator.  ^*By  Him  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 
justice ''  (Prov.  viii.  15).  All  the  kings  of  the  earth 
hold  their  being  of  Christ :  He  is  appointed  of  the 
Father,  "King  upon  the  holy  hill  of  Zion''  (Psalm  ii. 
6).  "Kings  shall  fall  down  before  Him,  all  nations 
shall  serve  Him  "  (Psal.  Ixxii.  11).  By  His  rising  from 
the  dead,  He  has  gotten  a  name  far  above  every  name; 
so  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow. 
"  The  Lord  at  thy  right  hand,  shall  strike  through 
kings  in  the  day  of  His  wrath"  (Psalm  ex.  5).  Then 
kingdoms  and  kings  that  stand  by  policy,  and  not  on 
Christ  and  His  word,  they  stand  on  rotten  tree  t -legs. 
Now  men  of  policy  devise  a  way,  and  cast  their  wit  in 
a  pair  of  balances,  how  to  shift  the  matter.  Had  they 
been  in  Daniel's  place,  they  would  have  devised  some 
way  to  have  kept  the  court  and  place ;  and  would  have 
said,  "  Can  ye  not  speak  low,  and  make  little  noisa 
with  your  pravers?  To  save  yourselves  from  the 
lion's  den,  might  ye  not  keep  a  close  door  and 
windows  ?  What  need  ye  like  fools  make  all  the  fields 
ado  with  your  prayers?"! — and  so  have  sewed  the 
black  coat  with  white  thread.  But  in  so  doing,  Daniel 
would  have  denied  Christ  to  have  "many  crowns 
upon  His  head."  And  would  not  policy  have  said  to 
the  three  Children,  "  Bow,  bend  your  knee  before  the 
golden  image,  and  think  upon  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob ;  that  so  ye  may  put  by  an  ill  hour, 
and  the  harm  of  the  fiery  furnace  !"  Nay,  but  such 
counsel  as  this  would  have  come  from  hell.  Men  are 
surest  when  they  stay  on  Christ's  side,  and  are  always 
strongest  when  they  stand  with  Him. 


*  Go  on  with  the  enumeration  till  to-morrow  morning. 
t  Wooden.  X  Make  the  fields  full  oi  noise. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  ly 


"  Anf^  He  had  a  na^ne  written  that  no  man  knew  hut 
Himself'^ — O  !  what  a  nameless  king  is  this  !  What  ? 
Is  Christ  unbaptized  that  He  wants  a  name  ?  Is  there 
no  man  knows  His  name?  **What  is  His  name,  and 
what  is  His  son's  name,  if  thou  canst  tell  ?"  (Prov.  xxx. 
4).  "  He  was  taken  from  prison  and  from  judgment : 
and  who  shall  declare  His  generation  T  (Isa.  liii.  8). 
Here  is  a  strange  thing !  Says  the  angel,  "  Thou 
shalt  call  His  name  Jesus  Christ.'^  Nay,  but  His  name 
is  Himself;  and  His  nature,  and  so  He  is  an  infinite 
God.  None  knows  infinite  Christ  but  Himself.  Ay, 
surely  Christ  is  an  unknown  person ;  though  each  one 
has  Christ  Jesus  in  their  mouth,  yet  they  know  not 
what  they  are  saying. 

There  are  three  mysteries  in  Christ  we  cannot  per- 
fectly ken  in  this  life,  nor  understand,  i.  The  infinite 
wisdom,  mercy,  goodness,  love,  and  grace  in  Christ ; 
which  the  angels  delight  to  look  into  and  wonder. 
Come  near  Christ  here,  and  ye  will  never  see  the 
bottom  of  Him.  Ye  have  seen  mercy,  mickle  mercy ; 
there  is  yet  more  behind.  One  has  seen  much  of 
Him,  another  more ;  the  angels  that  are  sharp  in  sight 
have  yet  seen  more ;  nay,  but  there  is  infinite  more 
behind.  You  will  as  soon  take  the  sea  in  the  hollow 
of  your  hand,  and  bind  the  wind  in  your  cloak,  as  ye 
will  take  Him  up.  Ye  must  even  stand  still  here  and 
wonder,  and  cry  out,  O  !  great  Jesus,  who  will  or  can 
fathom  Thee  out?  2.  The  work  of  Christ's  incarna- 
tion. O  !  what  a  depth  is  in  it !  God  and  dust 
married  together  !  How  blood  remains  in  a  personal 
union  with  God  !  How  the  finite  Man-hood  subsists 
in  His  infinite  personality  !  And  how  the  God-head 
in  the  Second  person,  and  not  in  the  First  or  Third, 
assumed  our  nature,  and  yet  but  one  God-head  in  all 
the   Three !     How   the   God-head   stood'  under  th*; 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Man-hood  that  was  stricken,  and  the  God-head  as  a 
back-friend*"  held  Him  up,  and  yet  the  God-head 
suffered  not !  How  Jesus  ma^i  died,  and  Jesus  God 
lived,  and  remained  in  death  God  and  man  !  And  the 
3rd  mystery  is,  What  a  name  Jesus  has  gotten  by  His 
rising  from  the  dead,  and  how  the  Man-hood  is 
advanced.  Christ  kens  all  these  full  well;  He  can 
read  His  own  name.  Ye  will  speak  of  learning  to 
measure  the  earth,  number  the  stars,  and  to  learn  their 
motion ;  that  is  deep  knowledge ;  but  God  help  you 
to  come  hither,  and  see  this  unknown  name,  JESUS, 
and  find  it  out  if  you  can.     I  trow  ye  cannot. 

Now  ask,  Where  will  ye  set  Christ  ?  Where  will  ye 
get  a  seat,  a  throne,  a  chair  to  Him  ?  He  cannot  be 
set  too  high ;  nay,  if  there  were  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  heavens,  and  each  to  be  above  another, 
and  Christ  to  be  set  in  the  highest  of  them  all ;  yet 
were  He  too  low.  Alas  !  He  is  too  little  thought  of ! 
He  is  like  the  field  where  the  pearl  is,  that  men  go 
over,  and  tread  upon  the  grass  that  grows  above  it, 
and  yet  they  ken  it  not.  INTen  tramp  upon  this  pearl, 
and  yet  they  know  not  what  they  are  doing.  Fy  !  fy  ! 
earthly  man  that  thou  *art !  Wilt  thou  put  a  cow  or  a 
sheep  in  thy  affection  beyond  thy  salvation  ?  Fy  for 
shame  for  evermore,  that  men  set  their  lusts  above 
Him  !  And  O,  fy  for  shame  !  that  you  should  set  your 
new-come-over  lord,  Wilful-will,  above  the  old  eternal 
Lord,  the  Ancient  of  days,  Jesus  Christ.  O  !  how  is 
Christ  put  out  of  His  place  ?  O  let  us  long  for  glory, 
that  place  where  we  will  read  His  name  clearly,  and 
will  see  Christ  face  to  face.  O  strange  !  we  long  not 
to  be  in  heaven,  to  see  this  comely  glorious  one  (if  I 
may  so  speak),  a  darling  indeed,  and  to  play  God's 

A  friend  to  help. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


19 


bairns  in  heaven.  We  will  then  come  and  look  into 
the  Ark;  for  the  curtain  will  be  drawn  by,"^  and  we 
will  see  our  fill  of  Christ  there. 

^^  A7id  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipt  in  blood P 
— That  is  a  strange  garment  !  I  leave  all  expositions, 
and  take  it  to  be  Christ  in  His  suffering  clothes, 
wooing  His  Kirk;  represented  thus  to  John  in  His 
wooing  clothes.  He  is  also  represented  so  in  Isa. 
Ixiii.  2,  "Wherefore  art  Thou  red  in  thine  apparel, 
and  Thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine 
fat  ?''  Christ,  in  His  suffering  for  us,  was  wet  to  the 
skin  in  His  own  blood.  When  He  was  slaying  our 
enemies,  He  was  all  bloody  to  look  upon ;  even  a  loch 
of  blood,  dropping  blood.  O  then  come  and  see  if 
He  be  not  a  red  man  !  Had  there  been  but  a  drop  of 
blood  here  and  there  upon  Him,  it  had  been  less ;  but 
He  was  all  dyed  with  His  own  blood ;  for  blood  drop- 
ped from  Him  and  He  wet  the  gi-ound  where  He  lay  ! 
"  And  His  sweat  was  as  it  were  gi*eat  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  to  the  gi'ound "  (Luke  xxii.  44).  So  as 
I  think  for  the  space  of  near  hand  twenty-four  hours, 
the  blood  got  not  leave  to  dry  on  Christ,  in  His 
suffering  for  us.  For,  after  Supper,  in  the  garden,  He 
swat  a  sweat  of  blood  that  wet  the  ground  He  lay  on, 
and  it  would  be  long  ere  it  dried.  Then  immediately 
after  that,  there  came  a  band  of  men  with  lanterns  and 
torches,  and  they  bound  Him  and  led  Him  away,  and 
He  got  blue  marks  anew.  Pilate  then  scourged  Him ; 
and  blood  came  upon  blood.  Then,  a  crown  of  thorns 
was  put  upon  His  head,  to  renew  His  blood  again. 
First  God  bled  Him,  then  man  bled  Him,  and  then 
the  laying  on  of  the  cross  upon  His  holy  shoulders, 
would  thrust  out  more  blood ;  (for  His  wounds  could 

Aside. 


20  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


not  be  closed  then)  and  then  His  holy  hands  and  feet 
were  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  He  hung  bleeding  there 
until  the  ninth  hour,  which  was  about  three  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  after  He  was  taken.  Then  His 
side  was  pierced  until  blood  and  water  came  out.  So 
as  from  after  supper  in  one  night,  until  it  was  near 
night  the  day  following,  He  was  under  blood.  What 
think  ye  now  of  Christ's  bloody  coat,  and  bloody  skin  ? 
Was  He  not  a  strong  keen  warrior  ?  Fought  He  not 
well  for  you  %  Is  He  not  well  worthy  of  your  love  ? 
God  grant  Him  good  of  it,  and  joy  of  it !  He  fought 
for  it,  and  would  not  give  over  the  play;  and  God 
forbid  He  had  given  it  over,  and  rendered  up  the 
cause ;  woe  then  had  been  to  us.  Should  ye  not  then 
give  your  best  things  to  Christ  ?  for  He  gave  the  best 
things  He  had  for  you — even  His  precious  blood ;  for 
the  life  is  in  the  blood.  He  seeks  no  more  but  the 
blood  and  life  of  your  heart-idols  and  sins ;  for,  says 
He,  ^'  I  slew  Myself  for  you,  and  if  ye  love  Me  give 
blood  for  blood.'' 

"And  His  7iame  is  called  the  Word  of  C^^."— The 
word  is  the  birth  of  a  man's  mind,  and  an  image  of 
what  is  conceived  in  the  understanding;  and  it  re- 
presents to  the  hearers  what  is  in  the  mind.  Now, 
because  man  is  a  finite  creature,  the  birth  of  his  mind 
is  finite  also.  As  the  image  of  a  man  in  a  glass 
represents  the  likeness  of  himself;  so  his  words  are  the 
image  of  his  soul,  representing  what  is  in  him.  Christ 
is  the  infinite  and  eternal  Word  of  the  invisible  God, 
not  only  like  Him,  but  God  Himself,  diff'ering  only  in 
manner  of  subsisting  from  God,  "  Who  is  the  image  of 
the  invisible  God"  (Col.  i.  15),  ''being  in  the  form  of 
God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God " 
(Phil.  ii.  6).  ''He  that  hath  seen  Christ,  hath  seen 
the  Father  also.     No  man  hath  seen  the  Father  at  anv 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  2 1 


time,  save  the  Son  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
and  He  to  whom  He  will  reveal  Him  :  All  things  that 
I  have  heard  of  My  Father,  I  have  made  known  unto 
you  "  (John  xv.  15).  Christ  is  God's  tongue  (to  speak 
so)  to  us,  betwixt  us  and  our  King.  He  is  pri\y  to  all 
the  Father's  secrets ;  then,  would  you  have  news  from 
that  great  Court,  and  want  to  know  the  secrets  of  God, 
and  how  the  work  of  your  salvation  thrives  ?  Christ 
only  knows  His  Father's  mind ;  make  your  acquain- 
tance with  Christ,  and  be  oft  with  Him,  and  ask  Him 
questions  often  times.  He  keeps  the  book  where  the 
names  of  the  first-born  are  recorded ;  desire  Him  to 
let  you  read  your  name  there.  Ye  will  advise  with 
la^vyers,  about  your  lands  and  inheritances ;  Christ  is 
our  advocate,  and  has  our  law-book,  to  tell  us  what  a 
holding  we  have,  what  duty  we  owe  to  our  Lord  the 
King ;  what  a  fair  rent  and  possession  we  have.  Our 
mheritance  is  made  sure  unto  us.  Now,  because 
Christ  is  the  only  one  in  all  the  world  likest  God,  and 
being  His  substantial  image,  yea,  being  very  God,  if 
ye  would  send  your  commendations,  your  love,  and 
sendees  to  your  heavenly  Father,  desire  Christ  to  do 
it,  and  He  will  carry  them.  If  ye  send  a  kiss  to  God 
by  Christ,  He  will  carry  it  to  His  Father  and  your 
Father. 

^^  And  the  armies  which  were  in  heaven^  followed  hint 
upon  white  horsesJ'' — This  is  not  to  be  understood 
simply  of  the  church  triumphant  in  heaven;  but  also 
of  the  heavenly  army  of  the  church  militant  on  earth; 
for  the  church  on  earth  is  burgess  of  another  country. 
Heaven  is  her  home ;  her  members  are  but  merchants 
hereaway^  seeking  the  pearl  of  great  price,  but  Christ 
has  given  them  their  burgess  tickets,  and  made  them 

Down  here. 


22  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


free  men.  They  are  sworn  to  be  true  to  the  burgh, 
and  to  hold  with  the  heavenly  company,  to  watch  and 
ward  with  the  saints,  or  "  heavenly  armies  " — called  so 
because  they  smell  of  heaven,  and  their  portion  is 
there.  "Our  conversation  is  of  heaven"  (Phil.  iii. 
20).  Ye  shall  ken  a  man  by  the  smell  of  his  breath: 
if  he  savour  of  the  earth,  it  says,  that  he  is  none  of 
the  spiritual  or  heavenly  army.  Ye  might  ken  by 
Judas'  breath  (who  said,  of  the  box  of  spikenard, 
might  not  this  have  been  sold  for  so  much)  that  he 
was  a  burgess  of  the  black  pit.  But  see  here,  they 
are  all  on  horseback,  and  in  their  Master  Christ's 
livery,  white  and  holy;  they  bear  the  King's  arms 
upon  them.  "  I  have  compared  thee,  O  my  love,  to 
a  company  of  horses  in  Pharaoh's  chariots  "  (Song  i.  9). 
See,  then,  that  the  saints  are  on  horseback  with  Christ; 
He  does  not  ride  and  His  people  walk,  but  will  have 
His  own  mounted  on  horseback  with  Him.  He  is 
even  then  triumphing  with  us  over  all  our  enemies. 
"  Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors, 
through  Him  that  loved  us  "  (Rom.  viii.  37).  He  will 
get  the  victory  over  all  His  and  His  people's  enemies; 
and  He  will  enable  His  people  to  get  the  victory  at 
last.  "These  are  they  w^iich  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  "  (Rev.  vii.  14). 
See,  then,  all  the  saints  are  on  horseback,  galloping 
and  posting  to  heaven  after  Christ;  overcoming  all 
temptations,  triumphing  over  the  world,  sin,  and  death. 
Then,  ye  that  are  but  Christ's  foot-runners,  take 
heed  to  this;  you  that  have  your  souls  licking  the 
dust  of  the  earth,  and  have  aye  a  smell  of  clay,  who 
mind  earthly  things.  By  the  smell  of  their  breath  ye 
will  ken  what  country  they  are  of;  they  are  upon  their 
feet  with  it,  wading  to  their  knees,  and  on  their  elbows, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  23 


among  the  filthy  clay-ground  of  covetousness.  Ride 
up,  and  ride  down,  and  ride  else  where  *  ye  will,  ye 
will  not  get  Christ  overtaken.  Ay,  ye  will  get  some 
like  the  young  man  in  the  Gospel,  who  would  have 
galloped  after  Christ,  but  when  Christ  bade  him  go 
sell  all  he  had,  that  threw  him  off  the  saddle,  and  laid 
him  on  the  breadth  of  his  back;  and  so  he  fell  behind, 
and  never  overtook  Christ  again,  so  far  as  we  hear  of 
The  devil  and  the  world  make  some  men  say,  that 
yon  Captain,  Christ,  rides  so  hard  and  fast,  that  they 
cannot  keep  up  with  Him,  and  so  lose  Him.  Demas 
posted  awhile  along  with  Paul  after  Christ  and  the 
Gospel,  yet  at  last  his  horse  stumbled,  and  he  fell  off, 
and  lost  his  horse,  and  company,  and  altogether. 
Judas,  he  posted  awhile,  but  the  devil  shot  a  musket  ball 
at  him,  even  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  so  he  gave  it 
over,  and  there  he  lay.  Men  ken  not  that  the  devil  and 
the  world  are  lying  betwixt  them  and  heaven,  stealing 
a  shot  at  Christ's  horsemen.  I  assure  you  the  devil 
seeks  no  better,  than  that  ye  will  light  and  take  a  bait,t 
a  drink  of  his  strong  wine,  worldly  lusts,  and  fleshly 
pleasures,  that  so  your  Master  on  the  white  horse 
may  be  far  before  you.  A  little  of  lawful  pleasure  is 
best !  Then  light  not,  for  the  devil  will  have  you  lose 
sight  of  your  Captain;  and  if  ye  lose  your  Master, 
Christ  and  fall  behind  Him,  it  will  stand  hard  with 
you.  Therefore  when  ye  lose  Him,  seek  and  be  diligent 
to  find  Him  out  again.  Seek  the  right  way,  follow  the 
horse's  foot-steps,  the  print  of  Christ's  foot-steps,  in 
holiness,  faith,  patience,  and  hope,  which  may  be  seen 
all  the  way  betwixt  this  and  heaven.  Ask  Him  out  as 
the  church  does;  "  Saw  ye  him  whom  my  soul  loveth?'' 
(Song  iii.  3).     When  the  church  said,  Draw  me,  she 

Wherever.  t  Refreshment. 


24  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


was  three  or  four  miles  behind.  When  David  said, 
*^  O  Lord,  how  long?"  (Psalm  vi.  3),  he  had  almost  lost 
sight  of  his  Captain.  Nay,  when  Christ  is  a  mile  or 
two  before,  so  that  there  is  a  little  hill  betwixt  Him 
and  us,  with  watery  eyes  and  panting  heart,  look  a 
long  look  over  the  mountain,  and  cry.  Lord  Jesus, 
ride  at  leisure,  tarry  and  take  a  poor  wearied  traveller 
with  Thee !  Lord,  tarry,  or  else  Thou  wilt  lose  a  foot- 
man. Job  said,  ^^Lord,  Thou  takest  me  for  an  enemy.'* 
He  brake  a  girth  there.  Christ  has  many  a  sore  tired 
horse  to  take  out  of  the  mire. 

In  this  triumphing  host,  many  of  Christ's  soldiers 
will  be  very  near  off  their  horses,  and  hanging  by  the 
houghs.'^  **I  said  in  my  haste,  All  men  are  liars" 
(Psalm  cxvi.  11).  Here  David  was  hanging  upon  the 
saddle  by  the  houghs.  Peter  got  a  fall  off  his  horse, 
and  he  fell  into  a  swoon,  and  lost  his  horse  when  he 
denied  his  Master.  Yea,  God  will  have  the  horse 
sometimes  to  stumble,  and  will  have  His  servants  laid 
on  the  breadth  of  their  backs,  and  all  their  clothes 
spoiled,  and  a  leg  or  an  arm  broken;  because  they, 
like  young  riders,  are  full  of  self-importance,  and  will 
not  follow  their  Captain,  and  care  not  about  keeping 
a  good  bridle-hand.  As  David  will  ride  on  a  hanging 
and  steep  hill  of  murder  and  adultery ;  Lot  upon  incest 
and  drunkenness;  and  or  ever  they  be  aware,  the 
devil  trips  up  their  heels  to  the  sun,  and  gives  them 
such  a  fall,  that  they  be  on  their  knees  with  it,  and 
shall  lose  their  horse,  and  so  be  obliged  to  creep  up 
the  hill  on  their  hands  and  feet.  "  Then  see  that  ye 
walk  circumspectly,  not  as  fools,  but  as  wise,  redeem- 
ing the  time,  because  the  days  are  evil"  (Eph.  v.  15, 
16).     "Work  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 

*  Hamstrings. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


25 


bling."  I  think  He  speaks  by  this  text,  as  if  He  would 
say,  Be  not  rash;  take  heed  to  your  ways;  keep  a 
good  bridle-hand;  hold  off  the  hills,  and  hanging 
precipices  of  ice ;  for  if  ye  give  the  devil  and  your  lusts 
the  horse  bridle  to  lead,  they  will  sink  you  to  the  girths 
in  a  black  marsh,  near  to  the  mouth  of  hell,  and  leave 
you  there,  and  laugh  at  you  when  they  have  done. 
The  devil  is  aye  playing  such  sports  and  tricks  as 
these;  they  are  but  feckless*  sportG;  and  I  tell  you, 
do  your  best,  ye  will  get  a  broken  brow  ere  ye  win  to 
heaven.  But  come  weeping  to  Jesus.  I  ken  the  saints 
fall  on  Christ's  floor ;  when  they  break  their  faces,  He 
is  at  their  elbow,  to  blow  upon  the  wound,  and  take 
them  up  agam.  We,  like  fools,  will  ride  at  full  career, 
and  cross  the  long  sands ;  and  we  grow  too  jolly  and 
proud  of  our  victory.  I  said  I  shall  never  be  moved, 
says  David ;  I  shall  die  in  my  nest,  says  Job ;  but  God 
breaks  the  bridle,  and  the  horse  loses  his  feet,  or  runs 
from  him  on  a  hard  causeway,  and  there  lies  synef  a 
stout  man  !  Be  not  high  minded,  be  not  too  wanton, 
nor  too  secure,  after  ye  have  won  a  race  at  The  Com- 
munion, and  have  gotten  a  hold  of  Christ ;  ye  know 
not  how  soon  ye  may  get  a  fall,  or  your  mittens  laid 
up  %  (as  we  commonly  say),  and  then  your  boasting 
will  be  laid.  Ye  will  say.  Ye  bid  us  rejoice  in  the 
Lord.  I  bid  you  rejoice ;  but  see  that  it  be  humble 
rejoicing,  sober  joy,  with  fear  and  holy  care. 

"  Clothed  mfine  linen,  white  and  clean^ — Whiteness 
being  the  most  perfect  colour,  is  a  token  of  innocence, 
and  blackness  is  a  mark  of  guilt.  Here  the  saints  are 
in  their  Master's  livery,  clean  and  holy  :  "  Be  ye  holy 
as  He  is  Holy."  Be  ye  harmless  as  He  is,  who,  when 
He  was  reviled,   reviled  not  again.     Let  the  white 


Profitless,     t  Thereafter.     %  You  not  able  to  go  abroad. 


26  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


clothes  of  your  profession  be  also  adorned  by  the 
innocency  of  your  lives.  Let  your  good  works  shine 
before  men,  that  your  heavenly  Father  may  be  glorified. 
Thus  manifest  your  thankfulness  after  The  Communion. 
Christ's  sheep  have  His  mark  upon  them,  and  are  like 
Himself  in  holiness.  Let  them  see  Christ's  stamp  and 
coat  of  arms  upon  you  :  your  King's  arms,  in  all  your 
actions.  Faith,  and  Truth.  What  is  it  that  makes  men 
profess  that  they  are  riding  to  heaven  after  Christ,  but 
to  deceive  the  world  :  they  are  the  devil's  black  armies, 
and  are  wearing  the  devil's  double-black  arms,  False- 
hood and  Vanity.  They  choose  to  live  in  sin,  pride, 
and  vanity  of  apparel,  which  is  not  booked  like  the 
white  livery  or  linen  of  the  saints,  but  rather  like  the 
black  livery  of  the  prince  of  the  bottomless  pit.  May 
the  Lord  direct  your  hearts  unto  the  love  of  God,  and 
to  a  patient  waiting  for  Christ,  and  to  Him  be  praise. 
Amen. 


SERMON        11/' 

Awake,  O  sword,  agaifist  my  shepherd,  and  a^amst  the  man  that 
is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  smite  the  shepherd,  and 
the  sheep  shall  be  scattered  ;  and  I  will  turn  mine  hand  upon 
the  little  ones,  &c. — Zechariah  xiii.  7,  8,  9. 

AS  the  Eunuch,  when  reading  Isaiah  liii.  asked  the 
question,  "  Ot  whom  speaketh  the  prophet  this? 
of  himself,  or  of  some  other  man?"  so  may  we  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ.  Christ^s  sufferings  were  so  admir- 
able that  they  made  Him  a  world's  wonder  !  As  if  a 
man  would  say.  What  a  sight  do  I  see?  The  like 
whereof  I  never  saw  !  I  see  the  Son  of  God,  the  Lord 
of  Life,  all  mangled  in  His  hands  and  feet. 

There  are  three  grounds  of  wonder  in  our  Lord's 
sufferings,  i.  Look  at  His  Person.  2.  Compare  Him 
with  others.  3.  Look  at  the  rare  way  of  clearing  mercy 
and  justice. 

I.  Look  on  His  Person,  and  wonder  that  the  Way 
should  be  weary;  Strength,  faint;  Life,  die;  Bread, 
hungry;  and  Water,  thirsty.  Is  not  this  a  rare  matter? 
A  wonder  !  that  the  God-head  should  be  knit  in  a  per- 
sonal union  with  the  Man  of  Sorrows  !  For  God  with 
His  Spirit  to  bear  up  a  man  under  sorrow,  is  nothing, 
compared  with  giving  His  personal  subsistetice  to  stand 
connected  with  wounds,  blood,'" curse,  and  shame! 
For  the  God-head  to  breathe,  live  in,  and  dwell  as  one 

*  Preached  at  Anwoth,  in  Galloway,  iii  the  year  1630. 


2  8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


with  the  person  shamed,  cursed,  hanging  on  the  cross, 
dead,  and  buried,  is  truly  wonderful  1  Here  God  is 
made  a  curse,  God  is  made  a  shame;  and  the  per- 
sonality of  the  God-head  still  abiding  with  the  shame 
and  the  curse,  howbeit  neither  cursed  nor  ashamed. 

2.  Compare  Him  with  others.  It  was  nothing  to 
see  Moses  subjected  to  scorning;  Zechariah  slain, 
between  the  porch  and  the  altar ;  and  many  of  the 
ancient  Fathers  rent  in  pieces  :  but  for  Christ,  for  God, 
to  be  so  handled  is  strange  !  No  wonder  though  all 
the  world  wonder  and  cry,  O  God,  what  wonders  do 
we  see  !  The  hand  that  spanned  the  heavens,  pierced 
with  nails !  The  feet  of  Him  that  treadeth  on  the 
stars,  nailed  to  a  tree  ! 

3.  What  man  or  angel  could  have  dreamed  of  this 
rare  work,  and  strange  way  to  heaven,  that  justice 
would  have  God-man  to  suffer  ?  This  was  a  voluntary 
work,  for  God  to  come  down  and  save  men ;  which 
He  needed  not  to  do  by  any  necessity  of  nature. 
God's  own  free  will  was  above,  beyond,  and  before 
this  set  and  decreed  law  of  justice.  Out  of  His  free 
good  will.  He  breathes  out  goodness,  love,  mercy,  and 
tender  compassion.  What  a  mystery?  The  infinite 
God  to  suffer  for  miserable  men  ! 

Use,  Then  he  that  counteth  little  of  sin,  counteth 
little  of  God.  The  wilful  sinner,  who  takes  sin  into 
his  bosom,  is  cruel  to  his  Maker.  If  Christ  be  your 
husband,  and  you  His  wife ;  then  sin  slew  your  hus- 
band. Will  the  wife  love  the  knife  that  cutted  her 
husband's  throat  ?  Ye  will  say,  The  wife  loveth  not 
the  husband,  if  she  take  the  man  into  her  bosom  who 
pursued  her  husband  to  the  death,  and  helped  to 
execute  him*  on  the  gallows.  Should  the  redeemed  of 
the  Lord  then  love  their  lusts,  that  pursued  Christ  to 
the  death,  and  nailed  Him  to  the    cross?     Then 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


29 


beware,  by  going  on  in  sin,  of  saying  Amen  to  the 
shedding  of  Christ's  blood. 

Love,  and  learn  to  look  at,  Christ  in  His  suffering 
for  His  people.  O  the  love  of  God,  it  passeth  all 
knowledge!  "For  if,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were 
reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son,  much 
more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  His  life'* 
(Romans  v.  10).  Christ  laid  the  ground-stone,  and 
foundation  of  His  love  very  deep ;  even  down  upon 
the  earth,  the  grave,  shame,  the  curse,  hell,  and  the 
wrath  of  God.  Yea,  in  His  love.  He  maketh  all  His 
elect  children  kings  and  princes  to  God,  and  they 
shall  reign  with  Him  for  ever  and  ever.  O  !  then 
what  great  fools  are  they  who  will  not  be  kings  and 
princes  ! 

But  alas  !  that  the  world  is  aye  picking  quarrels 
with  Christ  and  His  followers.  "  Let  us  break  their  bands 
asunder,  and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us"  (Psalm  ii.  3). 
When  Christ  came  to  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  they 
were  offended  at  Him.  I  assure  you  he  is  far  for^vard 
who  finds  no  fault  with  God ;  who  thinks  Christ  so 
fair  and  lovely,  that  there  is  no  spot  in  Him,  and  loves 
Christ,  even  when  He  seems  to  be  angry  at  him. 

If  it  be  asked,  Should  Christ  have  offered  mercy  to 
the  Jews  ?  Is  it  not  against  justice,  that  mercy  should 
be  offered  to  those  who  trample  mercy  under  foot  ? 

Ans,  I.  If  you  consider  Christ's  nature  and  offices, 
ye  will  see  that  He  behoved  to  give  an  offer  of  mercy 
to  those  who  spat  in  His  face.  Having  man's  nature 
in  Him,  He  behoved  to  put  on  bowels  of  mercy. 
God's  iafinite  mercy  upon  Christ's  tender  heart, 
bound  Him  that  He  could  not  go  away  and  leave 
His  friend's  house ;  but  constrained  Him  to  stay  still, 
and  take  all  the  strokes  that  His  friends  gave  Him. 
A  man  has  compassion  on  his  first-born  ;  a  woman  on 


30 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


the  fruit  of  her  womb;  a  husband  on  his  wife;  a 
kinsman  on  his  friend;  and  a  faithful  king  on  his 
people  :  but  Christ  is  infinite  (even  mercy  running 
over  the  banks)  in  His  nature.  Christ  said  to  Justice, 
"  Stay  till  I  woo  T^y  bride  :"  for  justice  (as  manifested 
to  us)  is  a  voluntary  decree  of  God  to  punish  sinners; 
and  justice  would  have  been  at  us  to  slay  us. 
Absalom  sought  to  slay  David  his  father,  but  David 
gave  command  to  the  captains  and  officers  to  deal 
gently  with  the  young  man  Absalom.  Be  not  sore 
upon  my  child.  So  mercy  comes  to  sinners  through 
Christ. 

2.  Look  to  Christ's  office,  as  dying  Christ.  Our 
Lord  would  never  say  amen  to  our  forwardness,  nor 
run  away  and  leave  us,  nor  yet  would  He  say  amen 
to  the  curse  of  the  law.  The  law  cried,  Death  upon 
all  sinners  ;  Christ,  as  J\Iediator  (to  speak  so)  said, 
God  forbid.  My  Father !  I  would  rather  give  My 
heart's  blood  ere  it  were  so.  How  went  the  matter 
then  ?  Thus ;  aye  the  unkinder  the  world  was  to 
Christ,  He  was  aye  the  kinder  to  it;  they  abused  Him, 
He  kissed  and  embraced  them  in  His  arms.  Christ, 
as  Mediator,  came  and  bowed  down  to  go  into  the 
lion's^  of  day  that  He  had  borrowed  from  the  Jews 
(to  speak  so),  but  they  met  Him  in  the  door,  fell  upon 
Him  and  abused  Him,  and  bruised  both  His  hands 
and  His  feet. 

3.  (Which  may  be  sweetest  of  all).  Upon  what 
terms  did  Christ  mak^-llie  Imrgain  with  His  Father  ? 
He  got  commandment  to  die,  but  not  continually. 
He  said,  Content,  I  will  die,  and  be  warm-hearted  to 
them ;  I  shall  take  a  lift  of  them  in  My  two  arms,  to 
pull  them  out  of  hell,  and  from  all  their  miserable 
toil.  Our  Lord  says.  Let  them  be  as  ill  as  devils  to 
Me,  I  will  be  as  good  as  God  to  them. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


31 


Use,  Then  it  reproves  those  who  seek  a  reason 
why  Christ  died  for  them.  O,  say  they,  I  am  a  hard- 
hearted body,  so  rebellious  that  Christ  would  never 
die  for  me !  Well,  then,  do  ye  think  that  Christ  died 
for  hire?  Would  you  make  Christ  a  Popish  God,  who 
died  for  sinners  only  for  as  good  again.  Christ,  ere 
He  came  out  of  heaven,  knew  the  worst  of  it,  and 
said,  Let  My  friends  slay  Me,  I  will  die  in  love  for 
them.  Look,  then,  sour,  unthankful  world,  what  a 
hold  Christ  took  ot  your  souls,  and  held  them  fast, 
and  would  not  let  them  go.  So  it  is  a  shame  to  us 
not  to  clasp  to  Him.  This  mercy  of  the  Mediator 
has  shamed  us  all  out  at  the  door ;  we  are  ashamed 
for  ever  more,  if  we  do  not  take  Christ  who  would 
so  fain  take  us.  Come  to  yourselves,  then,  and  fight 
no  longer  against  Him.  Say,  Woe's  me,  that  my 
Lord  kissed  me,  but  I  abused  Him  !  If  this  move  not 
our  heart,  and  melt  it  with  love  to  Christ,  God  shall 
break  it  all  to  pieces,  and  it  never  shall  be  healed 
again.  O,  my  friends,  Christ  never  got  a  good  turn 
of  His  friends.  ^^  He  came  unto  His  own,  and  His 
own  received  Him  not''  (John  i.  11).  The  house  of 
Israel  crucified  Him ;  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem 
stirred  Him  up  before  He  pleased.  The  rulers  and 
teachers  of  the  kirk,  and  professors  are  the  traitors, 
who  sell  Christ,  even  the  men  who  pretend  friendship 
with  Him.  It  is  a  shame  to  beguile  and  be  false  to 
any  friend,  far  less  should  we  be  false  to  Christ.  Art 
thou  a  professor  and  in  the  kirk  ?  Be  true  to  Christ, 
and  stand  to  His  cause. 

''  Awake^  O  szcord,  a^atJist  My  shepherd ^ — As  if 
the  sword  had  ears,  and  were  asleep,  the  Lord 
speaks  to  it.  "  If  I  bring  a  sword  upon  a  land, 
and  say.  Sword,  go  through  the  land,  to  cut  off  from 
it  man  and  beast"   (Ezek.  xiv.  17).      He  is  speaking 


32  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


to  the  sword  as  if  it  were  a  messenger  who  had 
ears,  whom  He  sends  on  an  errand.  We  should  be 
afraid  to  anger  the  Lord  who  hath  so  many  on  His 
side.  Providence  and  justice  have  many  friends,  and 
mercy  has  many  servants.  If  God  say.  Sword,  go 
to  Germany,  go  through  Scotland,  it  dare  not  sit 
His  call  '!^  God's  providence  has  a  secret  impulse  upon 
all  the  creatures.  If  God  say.  Arise,  pestilence,  and 
set  on  them;  Awake,  devils;  Come  hither,  graven 
images  and  set  on  Scotland;  Come  hither,  whore  of 
Rome,  smite  Scotland,  and  make  it  a  den  of  dragons, 
they  must  obey.  He  bids  the  sword  awake  against 
His  Son,  and  Shepherd,  Christ,  because,  by  the 
determinate  counsel  of  God,  He  was  to  be  slain. 

And  there  be  two  sweet  reasons  why  He  awaketh  the 
sword  against  Christ,  i.  Because  the  sword  behoved  to 
sleep  a  while,  till  Christ's  twelve  hours  of  the  day  was 
over.  Says  He,  Luke  xiii.  32,  "  I  must  work  to-day  and 
to-morrow,  and  the  third  day  I  shall  be  perfected.''  So 
long  as  Christ  hath  the  world  to  teach  with  the  gospel, 
and  any  seed  to  sow,  any  soul  to  convert,  as  long  the 
sword  slept;  for  His  Father  gave  Him  a  time  to 
suitt  His  wife,  and  O!  but  our  Lord  bestirred  His 
time,  and  hastened  before  the  sword  awaked  against 
Him.  2.  The  sword  behoved  to  sleep  till  the  term- 
day  came;  and  then  the  sword  awaked,  for  God 
would  not  want  payment  an  hour  beyond  the  time, 
and  that  was  a  black  and  dreary  hour  to  Christ.  He 
got  not  two  summons,  with  continuation  of  days,  but 
He  behoved  to  keep  the  first  day,  and  answer  the 
first  summons.  Therefore,  when  He  was  to  answer 
peremptorily  to  the  justice  of  God,  and  (as  it  were)  an 
hour  of  awakening  to  the  sword  (for  God  would  not  let 

*  Fail  to  do  His  bidding.  t  To  woo. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  ^  33 


the  diet  pass  the  day,  nor  renew  Christ's  bond),  He 
said,  "  Now  is  My  soul  troubled  ;  and  what  shall  I 
say?  Father,  save  Me  from  this  hour"  (John  xii.  27). 
So  Christ  desired  it  not ;  but  for  the  love  He  had  to 
us  He  was  glad  of  the  day,  and  willing  to  pay  the  debt, 
and  had  the  sum  ready  ;  ^*  For  their  sakes  T  sanctify 
Myself"  (Johnxvii.  19).  He  made  His  soul  and  body 
ready  for  the  fire,  to  be  burnt  as  a  sacrifice  for  man 
upon  the  altar  of  the  cross.  And  because  He  was 
minded  not  to  play  the  dy\'Our,*  He  was  willing,  with 
all  His  heart,  to  suffer ;  therefore,  says  He,  "  Arise, 
let  us  go  hence"  (John  xiv.  31).  He  went  to  that 
place  where  He  knew  they  would  take  Him,  and 
willingly  went  to  prison  for  the  debt.  He  was  like  an 
honest  man  who  resolved  to  pay  His  debt,  and 
would  fain  have  the  money  off  His  hand,  and  receive 
a  discharge.  O !  fain  would  Christ  have  had  a  \vritten 
discharge  in  His  hands  for  Himself,  His  heirs  and 
assigns.! 

Hence,  we  are  taught  to  use  our  time  well,  our 
twelve  hours  of  time  here,  as  Christ  did.  At  the  hour 
of  death,  at  thcr  hour  of  call.  He  had  nothing  to 
do ;  so  let  us  be  ready  against  our  hour,  that  so 
death  and  judgment  awake  us  not.  It  is  an  unmeet 
time  to  sleep  then,  while  the  judge  is  before  the 
door ;  and  when  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord's 
feet  coming  in  \\Tath  against  the  land,  it  is  not  time 
for  us  to  lay  down  our  head,  and  say,  "Soul,  take 
thine  ease."  And  yet  it  is  often  seen,  when  God  is 
crying  to  the  sword  to  awake  against  a  land,  it  is 
midnight  with  men  therein;  then  they  are  sleeping; 
and  it  is  the  fearfulest  death  of  all  to  die  in  a  sleep, 
and  unprepared ;    to  be  slain  in  that  state  and  leap 

*  Bankrupt,    f  Assignees  :  persons  to  whom  property  is  destined. 


34  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


into  eternity  in  a  night  dream,  when  we  know  not 
where  we  are  going. 

'^  Awake,  Sword,  smites — Spare  that  man  by  no 
means ;  Justice,  Spare  Him  not ;  Curse  of  the  law, 
Spare  Him  not ;  Men  and  devils,  Take  your  will  of 
Him.  To  hear  God  say  this  of  Christ  was  a  world's 
wonder !  O  sun,  hide  thyself,  hide  thy  face ! 
b  heavens,  put  on  a  mask  of  darkness  !  O  angels, 
go  down  and  dry  the  sweat  off  Him  !  O  earth, 
tremble  1  O  graves,  open !  O  rocks,  rent !  Fools 
mock  and  laugh  at  sin,  but  Christ  wept  when  He 
satisfied  for  it. 

,  "  Awake  against  viy  fcTlo7ur — Christ  who  is  equal 
With  the  Father,  "  the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  the 
first-born  of  every  creature"  (Col.  i.  15),  the  ^' exact 
character  "*  of  His  person ;  is  the  man  who  sfeftds' 
^th  God  ever  ready  to  do  His  work,  and  to  run  for 
us  where  ever  the  Lord  bids  Him.  Hence  learn,  that 
Christ  in  nature  is  even  the  brightness  of  God's 
glory,  "the  express  image  of  His  person"  (Heb.  i.  3). 
We  see  the  printing  iron  leaves  behind  it  every  way, 
the  print  of  itself;  so  the  Lord  from  eternity  brought 
forth  another  like  Himself,  the  Second  Person  of  the 
Trinity,  stamped  with  that  same  glorious  God-head, 
with  all  the  essential  properties  that  are  in  the 
Father.  As  the  Father  has  hfe,  so  the  Son  has  life 
in  Himself  As  all  men  honour  the  Father,  so  should 
they  honour  the  Son.  The  brightness  of  God's  glory 
is  a  great  word,  a  rare  and  great  mystery.  The 
glancing"  brightness  coming  from  the  sun,  is  not 
another  sun;  nor  is  the  glancing  brightness  of  a 
precious  stone,  another  stone.  And  so  it  is  here  with 
Him.     Because,  all  that  is  in  God  is  God,  and  there 

*The  Greek  word  for  ^^  Express  i7nage.^\     t  Bright-shining. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


35 


is  nothing  in  Him  but  what  is  in  His  nature  ;  therefore 
the  riches  and  beams  of  infinite  glory,  and  that  substan- 
tial glancing  glory,  and  beauty  in  God,  is  God,  and  the 
very  nature  of  God,  and  the  same  God  with  the  Father. 
Only  this  substantial  glancing  of  God's  glory,  has 
subsistence  in  itself,  to  make  it  a  person  distinct  from 
the  Father ;  and,  therefore,  Christ  is  God,  and 
co-equal  with  God  in  all  things,  carrying  the  substan- 
tial stamp  and  character  of  the  God-head.  Now,  this 
glorious  image,  being  the  Lord's  delight  from  all 
eternity.  He  would  not  enjoy  His  alone, '^'  but  put  a 
copy  of  the  God-head,  as  it  were  in  print,  on  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  man,  when  The  Word  was  made  flesh, 
that  we  might  take  this  fellow  and  companion  of  God, 
to  be  our  fellow  and  companion.  See,  then,  the 
dignity  of  the  elect  in  Christ,  that  God  and  they  are 
made  one  !  are  made  one  in  such  a  manner  that  He 
has  (so  to  speak)  parted  His  own  Son  betwixt  Himself 
*.nd  them.  Take  Him,  take  Him,  then,  with  God's 
blessing.  God  gave  you  Him  with  good  will,  take  ye 
Him  with  heart  and  good  will  then. 

''Smite  the  Shepherd'''— ^m\\.^  Christ  and  the 
apostles  shall  be  offended,  run  away  and  leave  Him. 
Here  is  a  command  to  the  sword  to  set  on  Christ 
God's  Fellow  and  the  chief  Shepherd.  Even  Christ 
is  arraigned  before  the  judge,  for  the  sins  of  men. 
Wherefore  should  this  have  been?  We  would  have 
been  stricken  and  condemned  for  ever,  had  not  the 
Lord  stricken  and  condemned  His  own  Son.  Here 
we  have  God  taking  the  sacrifice  of  His  Son,  and 
letting  us  go.  He  knew  that  His  Son  would  bear  the 
strokes  best.  What  reason  had  Christ  to  be  stricken  ? 
He  came  but  under  the  debt ;   mi.<2:ht  He  not   have 

*  Himself  soli! nrv. 


36  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


gone  free'?  No,  no,  as  He  came  under  the  debt,  He 
behoved  to  pay.  Justice  would  not  let  Him  away; 
but  smote  Him  so,  that  indeed  it  struck  the  Lord's 
soul  from  His  body.  You  that  live  in  sin,  are  ye  not 
afraid  when  the  God  of  glory  got  such  a  stroke  ?  We 
make  but  sport  of  it,  but  God's  sword  goes  through 
flesh  and  bones,  soul  and  body.  Beware  of  a  stroke 
of  it  out  of  Justice's  hand ;  for  if  ye  get  it  ye  will  nev^er 
do  well  again  :  ye  will  be  like  Moab,  a  broken  and 
lame  pot,"^  and  shall  curse  the  day  wherein  ye  were 
born  (Jer.  xx.  15).  "  He  hath  hedged  me  about,  that 
I  cannot  get  out ;  He  hath  made  my  chain  heavy 
(Lam.  iii.  7). 

''And  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered ^ — That  is,  The 
disciples  shall  flee  away  for  fear,  and  shall  start  and 
fall  at  Christ's  sufferings  ;  because  they  were  thinking 
He  should  be  an  earthly  king,  and  make  them  great 
men  in  the  world.  But  they  were  all  mistaken :  for 
He  came  to  get  strokes,  and  not  an  earthly  kingdom. 

Doct.  Observe  here :  The  faith  of  the  apostles, 
when  Christ  was  taken,  gets  a  crack ;  the  back  of  it  is 
near  broken,  and  they  are  at  the  point  of  giving  up 
with  Christ,  taking  Him  not  to  be  the  Redeemer  of 
the  children  of  Israel.  O,  but  God's  children,  in  their 
way  to  heaven,  get  many  sore  backsets  !  t  Many  sore 
trials  have  the  people  of  God  to  encounter  with. 
They  are  many  times  at  that  of  it,  that  they  know  not 
what  to  do.  What  might  the  disciples  now  think,  but 
Christ  and  they  were  separated  never  to  meet  again  ? 
''  Wherefore  hidest  thou  thy  face,  and  holdest  me  for 
thine  enemy?"  (Job  xiii.  24).  Christ,  the  true  heir, 
was  put  to  this.  What  shall  I  do?     '' Now  is,"  says 

*  Probably,    "a  broken  hnie  pot^''"'   i.e.^   earthen  vessel, 
t  Thrusti  back. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  37 


He,  ^*My  soul  troubled,  and  what  shall  I  say?"  How- 
belt  He  never  doubted,  though  He  was  put  to  tears  and 
strong  cries.  I  think  the  saints,  in  their  way  to 
heaven,  are  like  rash  children,  who  get  many  a  fall, 
and  break  their  face  twice  a  day.  God  will  give  them 
such  a  backset  and  fall  under  temptations,  that  their 
eyes  will  reel  again,  their  hands  grow  weak,  and  their 
hearts  faint ;  so  that  there  is  but  as  a  hair-breadth, 
betwixt  them  and  their  giving  up  with  God.  Faith, 
as  it  were,  goes  through  fire  and  water  to  heaven  :  or 
like  a  soldier  going  through  an  enemy's  camp,  this  one 
runs  at  him  with  a  spear,  another  discharges  a  musket 
at  him,  one  runs  him  through  the  arm  or  thigh,  with  a 
sword ;  another  has  well  nigh  put  him  oft'  his  horse, 
and  he  is  very  near  surrendering ;  yet  he  spurs  through, 
and  at  last  gets  away  with  his  life.  So  the  Christian 
warrior,  however  many  hazards  he  may  meet  with, 
shall  come  off  victorious  at  last.  This  may  be  a  com- 
fort for  all  under  temptations  and  down-castings  for 
their  grievous  sins.  Ye  sometimes  cry,  *'No,  but  God 
loves  me  not ;  I  am  often  doubting  if  the  dead  rise,  if 
there  be  a  heaven,"  (Jtc.  These  are  backsets,  but  take 
ye  no  fear,  give  not  over,  all  shall  be  well.  Faith 
must  not  be  like  foolish  people,  to  seek  law-burrows* 
of  temptations.  True  faith  is  an  herb  that  grows  best 
in  winter  weather. 

When  the  disciples  in  the  ill  day  forsake  Christ,  ye 
need  not  marvel  to  see  many  blown  away  with  tempta- 
tions. So  long  as  Christ  has  fair  weather,  and  feeds 
the  multitudes  with  loaves,  they  seek  Him  and  would 
make  Him  their  king  (John  vi.  15).  But  when  the 
court  changes,  and  it  grows  black  in  the  west,  and 
there  comes   winter   weather;   Oh  !   then.  What   do 

A  pledge  that  no  injury  shall  be  done. 


38  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


they  ?  They  all  turn  back  and  flee.  Ay,  Christ  in  a 
day  of  trial  is  like  (if  we  may  use  the  comparison)  an 
old  waste  dove-house ;  the  doves  flee  away,  and  there 
is  nothing  there  but  old  nests.  It  is  just  so  when 
Christ  has  ought  to  do  :  many  of  His  friends  prove 
weak,  and  get  a  backset ;  and  many  fall  and  deny  Him ; 
"Will  ye  also  go  away?"  said  He  to  the  Twelve. 
Many  marry  Christ,  as  some  men  do  rich  women,  who 
marry  their  riches,  but  not  themselves;  and  when 
they  have  gotten  their  riches,  their  afl'ections  are  else- 
where, and  the  women  are  lightly  esteemed.  So  has 
it  often  been.  When  Christ's  cause  came  in  question, 
the  rulers  of  this  land  suffered  Christ  and  His  cause 
to  be  wronged,  and  many  of  them  took  a  back-side : 
but  He  has  been  a  moth  in  many  of  their  purses,  and 
they  are  worm-eaten  for  it.  When  our  Lord's  Temple 
was  measured,  they  suffered  lowns  and  knaves  to  take 
acres  of  His  land  from  Him,  and  so  Christ  got  not  all 
His  bounds  :  and  they  see  but  little  who  see  not,  that 
for  this,  or  since  that  time,  God  has  taken  broad  lands 
from  them,  and  even  now  is  doing  it :  for  they  had 
put  lordships  in  their  purses. 

"  A7id  I  will  turii  Mine  ha?id  upon  the  Utile  ones^ — 
Christ  kept  the  faith  of  the  little  ones,  when  they 
were  in  Satan's  sieve,  and  prayed  to  the  Father  that 
their  faith  should  not  fail.  The  turning  of  Christ's 
hand  upon  them,  was  much  as  ^'  Though  He  had  given 
them  a  back-stroke,  yet  He  would  lend  them  a  lift  for 
it  again."  He  had  scattered,  but  He  would  gather 
them  again ;  forsaken  them,  but  He  would  return  to 
them  again.  I  think  I  recollect  a  story  of  one  who 
had  gone  to  see  a  dear  friend,  whom  he  found  fighting 
with  an  enemy,  and  like  to  be  overcome ;  upon  which 
he  fell  to  and  helped  him,  and  took  the  enemy  off  his 
hand.     Christ  saw  the  disciples  like  to  be  overcome 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


39 


and  mastered  with  the  temptation.  He  saw  that  if 
He  helped  not,  they  would  be  shot  through  ;  therefore 
He  came  in  as  a  third  man  and  heli:)ed  them. 
Whence  ye  may  see  the  privilege  of  the  children  of 
God,  under  a  trouble  or  heavy  sin ;  God  helps  them  ; 
so  they  fight  not  alone.  If  ye  be  God's,  in  all  your 
fights  Christ  is  a  third  man  with  you.  If  ye  be  like  to 
be  overcome  with  defection,  if  ye  be  His,  He  will  bestow 
three  things  on  you,  which  none  get  but  the  sons. 

I.  Suppose  that  God  would  seem  to  deny  them,  yet 
they  will  not  deny  Him.  I  think  they  are  like  noble 
minded  heirs  ;  though  their  lands  are  under  thousands 
of  debt,  yet  they  will  never  sell  them  without  rever- 
sion; for  then  they  would  lose  all.*  If  they  quit  the 
eye-look  to  the  estate,  they  lose  the  place  also.  So  it 
is  with  God's  children  under  fear  for  sins ;  when,  to 
their  apprehension,  their  part  of  Christ  is  mortgaged, 
and  under  thousands,  yet  they  dare  not  resign  their 
part  of  Him.  I  would  have  you  doing  this.  God's 
children  are  under  many  sins;  but  I  pray  you  sell  not 
your  right  of  Christ ;  for  if  ye  do,  the  devil  is  at  your 
hand,  to  take  instruments  that  you  have  quit  Christ. 
But  let  your  sins  be  ever  so  many ;  still  stick  by  this, 
that  you  are  a  son  of  God,  and  so  Christ  will  redeem 
the  inheritance,  and  make  all  free.  David  said  he  was 
cast  off,  yet  still  prayed  as  if  he  thought  not  so :  Psalm 
xxxi.  2  2,  "I  said  in  my  haste,  I  am  cut  off  from 
before  Thine  eyes;  nevertheless  Thou  heardest  the 
voice  of  my  supplications,  when  I  cried  unto  Thee." 
There  we  may  see  he  thought  he  was  cast  off,  yet  he 
prays  and  cries,  and  could  not  be  at  ease,  and  that 
tells  us  that  he  had  not  subscribed  a  resignation  to 
his  Lord. 

*  Hope  of. 


40  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


2.  God  gives  to  His  scattered  little  ones  a  sanctified 
nature.  In  opposition  to  sin,  the  renewed  part  cries 
aye  out  as  a  friend  to  Christ,  ^'  I  vote  not  for  that,  that's 
against  Christ,  that's  against  me;  I  will  never  say 
amen  to  that.  I  take  instruments  in  God's  name,  I 
hate  that,  and  all  other  sins."  Christ  has  an  advocate 
in  thy  soul  to  plead  for  Him. 

3.  There  is  this  in  God's  children,  after  they  seem 
to  have  taken  their  leave  of  Christ,  they  look  eagerly 
after  Him.  And  it  is  a  look  over  their  shoulders,  with 
a  "  Woe's  me  !  O  to  be  back  at  Him  again  !"  So  the 
disciples,  after  they  had  fled,  came  the  third  day  to 
the  grave  to  seek  their  Lord  again.  Then  learn,  under 
temptations,  to  keep  Christ  on  your  side,  and  not  to 
take  on  the  Avork  your  alone,*  lest  when  you  are 
WTestling  against  temptations,  ye  be  left  to  play  the 
coward.  But  steal  out  of  the  gripes  of  sin  and  Satan, 
and  yoke  t  them  and  Christ  together,  and  He  will  give 
them  their  fill  of  it ;  and  if  He  be  like  to  be  overcome, 
let  him  take  that  in  his  own  hand.  He  who  would 
fain  have  amends  of  his  enemies,  if  he  be  a  man  great 
with  the  king,  uses  means  to  get  a  plea  raised  betwixt 
them  and  the  king,  and  then  the  king  takes  them  off 
his  hand. 

"  Two  parts  shall  he  cut  off  a7id  die;  but  the  third 
part  shall  he  left  thei'eiji'' — For  the  slaying  of  Christ, 
and  the  contempt  of  the  gospel,  the  land  shall  be 
divided.  Learn,  Scotland  (for  I  may  not  stay  to 
amplify  the  docrine),  learn  to  make  much  use  of 
Christ.  Are  ye  not  more  obliged  to  God  than  His 
beloved  people  the  Jews  were,  the  Lord's  first  bride, 
the  wife  of  His  youth  ?  The  sorest  stroke  that  ever  a 
land  gets,  is  a  stroke  for  rejecting  Christ   and   the 

Without  help.  +  Join. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  41 


gospel.  The  third  part  shall  be  left  therein.  Two 
parts  are  cut  off.  Take  them  out  of  my  sight.  Jer.  1 
XV.  2,  "  Such  as  are  for  death,  to  death ;  and  such 
as  are  for  the  sword,  to  the  sword ;  and  such  as  are 
for  the  famine,  to  the  famine  ;  and  such  as  are  for  the 
captivity,  to  the  captivity."  Chap.  ix.  13,  14,  15, 
**  Because  they  have  forsaken  my  law,  and  walked 
after  the  imagination  of  their  own  heart,  and  after 
Baalim, — Behold,  I  will  feed  them,  even  this  people, 
with  wormwood,  and  give  them  water  of  gall  to  drink." 
For  oppression,  see  Amos  viii.  7.  And  for  vanity,  see 
Isaiah  iii. 

When  the  workers  of  iniquity  are  taken  out  of  this 
life,  it  is  said  to  be  a  cutting  off;  but  it  is  not  said  so 
of  the  godly.  Isaiah  Ivii.  i,  "  Merciful  men  are  taken 
away."  God  taketh  away  merciful  men  in  His  arms 
as  children ;  but  He  cuts  the  wicked  off  like  the  trees 
of  the  field,  and  pulls  them  up  by  the  roots.  *'They 
shall  drive  out  Ashdod  at  noon-day,"  as  so  many 
cattle  out  of  the  com,  "and  Ekron  shall  be  rooted 
up"  (Zeph.  ii.  4).  God  sends  sword,  famine,  and 
pestilence,  as  so  many  dogs,  against  the  wicked,  to 
destroy  them.  But  He  needs  not  to  hunt  these  out 
after  the  godly,  nor  summon  them,  for  they  go 
willingly.  Says  Joshua,  xxiii.  14,  "  I  go  the  way  of  all  the 
earth."  A  good  preparation  before  God's  anger  come 
to  cut  us  off,  is  to  get  peace  made  up  with  Him.  O 
to  be  ready  to  lie  down  under  His  feet.  AVhen  the 
king  calls  some  to  judgment,  He  does  not  summon 
them,  but  writes  them  with  His  own  hand.  In  Ezekiel 
viii..  He  denounces  judgment  in  four  several  places 
against  idolaters ;  but  in  chap.  ix.  He  bids  them  see 
the  judgment.  But  how  gets  Christ  His  '^ third partV^ 
He  must  fight  for  them ;  and  kindle  a  fire,  and  cast 
them  into  it,  before   He  get  them.     He  draws  the 


42  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


sword,  kindles  a  fire,  and  casts  them  into  the  furnace, 
and  courts  His  wife  there.  Now  Christ  is  like  no 
other  captain :  many  captains  get  towns  without 
stroke  of  sword,  which  surrender  willingly  to  them; 
but  Christ  never  took  in  a  town,  nor  got  a  people,  but 
by  a  strong  hand.  He  is  like  a  captain  who  gets  His 
living  by  His  sword.  The  rod,  the  sword,  the  fire, 
and  pulling,  drawing,  and  storming  the  conscience,  are 
used,  and  yet  they  stand  out.  (See  Hosea  vi.  4?  5?  ^? 
7).  God  has  a  church  here,  but  He  cannot  get  His 
third  part  separated  from  the  rest,  but  by  stroke  of 
sword.  It  is  a  sore  matter  or  He  conquer!**  He 
must  first  fill  the  places  with  dead  bodies,  (Psalm  ex.  6). 
And  ere  our  Lord  get  His  third  part  in  this  land,  to  be 
as  He  would  have  them,  it  will  cost  Him  to  plead  the 
quarrel  of  the  covenant  with  fire  and  sword.  I  have 
chosen  thee  in  the  fire,  I  have  set  my  love  upon  thee; 
and  ere  I  could  have  thee,  thou  wast  cast  into  the 
furnace.  He  will  refine  thee  as  silver.  Though  the 
house  should  be  burnt,  God  will  have  a  care  of  the 
silver  and  the  jewels,  the  godly,  whom  He  gathers 
into  His  treasury. 

Now,  there  are  two  sorts  of  metal,  which  our  Lord 
will  not  admit  into  the  treasury,  i.  Light  clipped 
metal.  The  clipped  silver  that  wants  so  much  due 
weight,  that  is  the  money  God  refuses.  So  it  is  said 
of  the  king  of  Babylon,  Thou  art  weighed  in  the 
balance,  and  art  found  light.  Such  are  the  men  that 
are  found  light  in  God's  balance,  windy,  light,  and  soft 
^  men  :  when  God  puts  His  hand  to  them,  they  cannot 
abide  a  touch,  but  go  all  to  pieces  among  His  hands : 
they  cannot  sufi'er  trouble,  but  they  melt  in  the  fire,  and 
are  worse  after  a  downfall  than  before :  these  God  casts 

*  Ere  He  conquer,  much  must  be  borne. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


43 


away.  Now,  see  that  ye  have  the  two  weights  that  God 
seeketh ;  I  mean,  be  answerable  to  your  profession. 
When  ye  are  weighed,  the  balance  will  tell  you  better 
than  the  eye.  God's  weights  will  try  if  you  have  true 
grace. 

2.  He  casts  away  the  dross,  the  tin,  and  the  brass, 
and  will  put  none  of  it  in  His  treasury.  Whether  it  be 
guilded  or  washen  brass,  and  put  in  a  bag  beside  the 
gold,  God  will  see  what  is  but  copper.  Gold  is  gold 
now.  Go  therefore,  each  man,  and  see  what  metal  ye 
are  of,  for  God  is  kindling  a  fire  in  this  land  to  try  us; 
and  when  God's  trial  is  come,  we  will  see  who  burneth, 
and  who  glanceth^  in  the  fire  (Ezek.  xxii.  i8).  Many 
Avill  appear  like  gold,  and  yet  in  reality  are  but 
watered  t  copper  :  they  look  like  gold,  they  glitter  and 
are  yellow  coloured,  but  when  they  are  cast  into  the 
fire,  the  watering  will  go  off,  and  there  comes  out 
nothing  but  dross.  Demas  and  Ahithophel  were  of 
brass,  which  a  little  knock  of  the  hammer  broke  all  to 
pieces,  and  the  devil  comes  to  gather  up  the  fragments. 
Joseph  stood  a  temptation  to  lust,  and  did  not  yield 
(Gen.  xxxix.  9).  Ye  make  a  wide  profession,  yet  art 
not  like  Joseph,  who  said,  "  How  then  can  I  do  this 
great  wickedness,  and  sin  against  God  ?"  Fill  up  your 
chair,  and  fill  up  your  coat ;  fill  it  up ;  the  trial  is  near ! 
God  has  taken  up  His  balance  to  weigh  you.  Look 
what  you  want,  and  nm  to  Christ's  golden  mine  and 
get  it.  See  that  ye  be  in  Christ,  and  when  Christ  and 
you  are  put  in  the  balance  together,  you  and  He  will 
be  good  weight.  His  righteousness  will  be  weighed 
with  you,  and  it  is  no  clipped  metal. 

**  They  shall  call  on  My  ?ia7ne,  and  I  will  hear  them." 
— See  then,  that  this  is  the  way  to   get  relief  from 

Shines  bright.  t  Plated  over. 


44  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


troubles  and  temptations,  when  ye  are  trysted  \vith 
them.  Call  on  God  by  prayer,  and  ye  shall  obtain 
mercy.  Thus  the  fire  at  last  brings  out  mercy  :  and 
prayer  in  the  fire  is  one  of  those  sweet  smells  that 
God's  spices  cast  forth.  In  the  fire,  the  smoke  of 
prayer,  sighing  and  groaning  that  comes  forth,  goes 
up  to  heaven.  See  then  what  comes  of  trouble. 
It  looks  not  unlike  that,  Rom.  v.  3,  4,  5,  "  Knowing 
that  tribulation  worketh  patience;  and  patience,  experi- 
ence; and  experience,  hope;  and  hope  maketh  not 
ashamed."  We  would  not  have  so  many  errands  to 
the  Lord,  if  we  wanted  trouble.  An  afflicted  church 
is  a  praying  church,  and  we  need  not  be  afraid  of  a 
praying  church,  if  we  could  attain  to  this.  If  ye  ask. 
Why  the  Lord  tries  His  children  so  hard?  Answer, 
Because  they  are  slack  in  prayer.  God  gets  not  that 
worship  of  prayer  that  is  due  to  Him  by  fair  means  : 
He  useth  law  against  us,  and  what  mercy  they  shall 
have,  says  He,  they  shall  have  the  sense  of  My  favour. 
^^  I  will  say  ^  It  is  My  people;  and  they  shall  say^  The 
Lord  is  my  God.'' — There  is  (if  we  may  so  speak)  a 
shaking  of  hands  on  both  sides.  There  God  claims 
kindness  to  His  people,  and  they  claim  kindness  to 
Him;  He  takes  hold  of  them,  and  they  cleave  to  Him; 
He  loveth  them,  and  they  love  Him.  Kindness 
between  God  and  His  people,  stands  never  on  one 
side,  it  is  on  both  sides.  However,  God  must  begin. 
Love  is  not  an  herb  that  grows  with  the  root  upper- 
most, and  the  top  down  :  it  grows  not  up,  but  comes 
do^^^l  from  God,  and  the  beams  of  it  spring  up  to  Him 
again.  See  this  meeting.  Song  i.  4,  the  church  says, 
Draw  me.  She  speaks  to  Christ  to  draw  her;  then 
says  Christ,  chap.  ii.  10,  ^'Rise  up,  my  love,  my  fair 
one,  and  come  away."  He  seeks  her,  and  she  seeks 
Him.     She  says,  '^  Tell  me,  O  Thou  whom  my  soul 


COMMUNIOX  SEKMONS. 


45 


loveth,  where  Thou  feedest,"  chap.  i.  7.  I  ^vill  be 
where  thou  dwellest,  I  7C'ill  be  where  thou  art.  Christ 
seeks  you  in  the  sacrament,  seek  ye  Him  again,  and 
though  the  devil  should  say  the  contrary,  there  shall 
be  a  meeting.  She  says,  chap.  iii.  3,  "  Saw  ye  Him 
whom  my  soul  loveth.''  He  says,  chap.  iv.  8.  "  Come 
with  Me  from  Lebanon."  He  calls  her.  She  says, 
chap.  i.  4,  "  We  will  remember  "I'hy  love  more  than 
wine  !"  He  says,  chap.  iv.  10,  "  How  much  better  is 
thy  love  than  wine  !"  He  calls  her,  "  His  love  and 
fair  one,"  chap.  ii.  10.  She  calls  Him,  chap.  v.  10, 
"White  and  ruddy,  the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand  !" 
Let  His  love  get  a  meeting ;  He  fought  through  death 
and  hell  to  find  you ;  seek  ye  Him  through  all  troubles. 
He  bought  you  dear;  say  ye,  O  that  I  could  buy  Him, 
and  give  all  that  I  have  or  could  do  for  Him.  There 
is  not  any  blessed  marriage  otherwise.  Love  ye  not 
Christ  dearly  ?  Would  ye  not  suffer  and  die  for  Him, 
as  He  suffered  and  died  for  you  ?  It  is  not  marriage- 
love  if  it  is  not  so  ;  it  is  but  feigned  love.  Now  Christ 
is  holding  forth  His  love  to  you  this  day,  will  ye  not 
accept  of  the  offer,  and  will  ye  return  nothing  again  ? 
I  like  not  that  kindness  when  there  is  no  taking  and 
giving,  no  borrowing  and  lending  betwixt  Christ  and 
you.  May  the  Lord  Jehovah  persuade  you  to  em- 
brace the  offer,  and  flee  into  lovely  Christ  Jesus,  the 
glorious  Prince  of  renown,  and  to  Him  be  praise  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen. 


SERMON        1 11.'^ 

Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered ;  and  I 

will  tii7'7i  mine  hand  npon  the  Utile  ones,  ^c, — Zechariah 
xiii.  7,  8,  9. 

WHAT  is  the  Kirk  like  when  the  Shepherd  is 
stricken,  the  head  all  black  with  strokes,  the 
members  all  chased  away,  and  hiding  themselves  in 
this  hole  and  that  hole  ?     The  case  is  dolorous  enough. 

Indeed  Christ's  back  is  at  the  wall  now.  The  great 
Shepherd  (if  we  may  say  so)  has  gotten  such  a  bite  on 
the  heel,  by  that  great  hell's  hound,  the  devil,  that  he 
cannot  walk.  He  is  under  God's  wrath,  and  death 
has  given  him  the  stakesf  to  keep.  Dogs  have  come  in 
among  the  sheep,  and  scattered  them ;  and  stout  fair- 
tongued  Peter  has  taken  a  backside.  The  enemy  is 
saying.  Take  up  holy  Christ  now  !  for  all  His  holiness 
He  is  slain  !  and  His  disciples  have  taken  to  their 
heels  for  it,  fled  to  the  hills,  and  are  gone. 

Christ  might  now  say,  as  it  is  in  Psalm  Ixix.  20, 
"  Reproach  hath  broken  my  heart ;  and  I  am  full  of 
heaviness  :  and  I  looked  for  some  to  take  pity,  but 
there  was  none ;  and  for  comforters,  but  I  found  none." 
Now  might  Christ  say,  Where  are  all  my  friends  and 
mother's  sons  ?  Ken  ye  where  Christ  dwells  with  His 
Avife  in  this  world  ?  I  say,  Just  in  a  cot-house;  they  lie 

*  Preached  at  a  Communion,  in  Kirkmabreck,  in  the  year 
1630. 
t  A  proverb — left  nothing  worth  having. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


47 


on  a  straw  bed,  and  even  on  the  floor.  They  are  in 
a  silly  smoky  house,  all  full  of  reek.  Here  is  the  man 
^'  whom  the  nation  abhorreth  "  (Isai.  Ixix.  7).  And  his 
kirk  is  like  a  gardener's  lodge,  a  cot-house,  or  a  shep- 
herd's tent.  Ken  ye  not  Christ's  word,  ^^  The  kingdom 
of  God  comes  not  \\dth  obser\^ation."  His  noise  is  not 
heard  in  the  street ;  he  comes  not  with  coaches 
rattling  on  the  causeway,  and  many  men  with  him. 
It  is  said,  Zech.  ix.  9,  "Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter 
of  Zion ;  shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem :  behold,  thy 
King  cometh  unto  thee."  How  comes  he  then  ?  In 
truth  not  very  king  like,  '^  Lowly,  and  riding  upon  an 
ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass."  No  mantle, 
nor  yet  a  saddle  ;  but  they  laid  their  garments  on  the 
ass,  and  the  foolish  children  about  him,  crj^ing, 
Hosanna.  Yet  there  is  the  Kings  of  kings.  He  was 
Christ,  for  as  simple  and  despicable  as  they  took  Him 
to  be.  And  what  are  His  own  poor  folks?  Even 
esteemed  in  all  ages  the  off-scourings  of  the  world. 
See  what  a  word  the  apostle  has,  i  Cor.  i.  25,  "The 
foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men  :  and  the  weak- 
ness of  God  is  stronger  than  men."  When  Christ  came, 
each  one  said,  Is  this  He?  A  scorn  !  This  is  not  the 
Messiah,  the  King  who  Jeremiah  said  shall  reign  and 
prosper?  (Jer.  xxiii.  5).  And  who  Daniel  said,  should 
have  an  everlasting  dominion'?  (Dan.  vii.  14).  Is  this 
the  Messiah  ?  the  son  of  a  carjienter,  a  beggar's  son  ! 
O  fy !  Ye  disgrace  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  if  ye  say 
this  is  your  king.  This  man  looks  not  like  a  king.  I 
recollect  a  story  of  a  man,  who  had  no  genteel  fashions, 
who  came  in  amongst  a  number  of  nobles;  he  shoots 
him,  and  he  shoots  him,"  saying,  ^Vhere  away  is  the  ill- 
bred  body  going  ?     So  was  Christ  tossed  from  side  to 

*  This  man  and  that  man  pushes  him  aside  contemptuously. 


48  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


side  ;  they  all  hissed  at  Him,  and  scorned  Him  ;  and 
yet  He  was  their  King  ! 

This  condemns  a  proud  lordly  faith.  The  repent- 
ing thief  had  a  humble  faith ;  he  believed  that  crucified 
Christ  was  Christ,  and  the  King  of  the  Jews;  although 
he  saw  Him  a  despised  man.  I  say,  there  is  a 
humble  faith,  and  a  lordly  faith.  The  disciples  had  a 
proud  faith  when  they  thought  Christ  should  have 
restored  the  kingdom  to  Israel,  and  made  them  like 
kings  on  the  earth ;  but  they  were  all  mistaken.  We 
have  a  proud  high-looking  faith  if  we  will  not  have 
Christ  to  be  Christ,  unless  He  come  in  clothes  all  of 
gold,  with  much  noise  and  rumbling  coaches  on  the 
causeway,  with  six  thousand  chariots,  and  many  horse- 
men. Because  we  see  rulers,  princes,  and  nobles 
against  Christ,  our  proud  faith  saith,  It  is  not  He. 
Nay,  but  our  faith  must  learn  to  look  to  Christ  as  low 
as  the  grave,  and  to  His  kirk  in  prison. 

"  1 7inll  turn  Mine  hand  7ipon  the  little  Ofies^ — That 
is,  I  will  turn  My  hand,  and  gather  the  scattered 
flock.  Now,  ^^  turning  of  the  hand''  is  a  speech,  in 
allusion  to  shearers,  or  mowers  in  a  meadow,  who 
fetch  in  a  great  roll  of  hay,  or  com,  with  the  scythe 
and  hook.  Christ  takes  not  in  all  His  corn  in  one 
day  ;  He  comes  and  drives  in  one  flock  this  day  to 
the  kingdom  of  grace,  and  some  day  another.  Christ's 
house  is  dail}^  gro  A'ing ;  and,  indeed,  it  will  cost  Him 
many  turnings  of  His  hand  ere  He  set  us  all  in  His 
Father's  barn-yard.  For  we  are  over  fond  to  be  in 
Satan's  broad  fields,  in  following  the  sinful  fashions 
and  customs  of  the  times.  We  have  itching  ears 
after  new  guises.''^  See  what  outbreakings  are  in  Noah, 
David,  Peter,  and  the  rest  of  the  Aposles,  who  ran 

*  Fashions. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  49 


away  from  Christ  when  He  suffered  ;  but  He  turned  ^ 
His  hand  upon  them  and  brought  them  back.  He 
will  take  many  shifts  before  He  lose  one  of  His  little 
ones.  He  is  hunting  and  seeking  after  them  by  every 
sermon,  and  at  every  communion.  He  must  of  \ 
necessity,  from  His  redeeming  love  and  election  in  : 
the  covenant  of  redemption,  brings  them  all  in.  ^'  All  ;' 
that  the  Father  giveth  Me,  shall  come  unTo  Me ;  and  ;' 
him  that  cometh  to  Me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out '' 
(John  vi.  37).  And  what  more?  He  says,  verse  39, 
"  And  this  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  Me, 
that  of  all  which  He  hath  given  Me,  I  should  lose 
nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day." 
His  Father  said.  Son,  bring  them  all  in  with  Thee, 
they  shall  all  be  welcome  for  Thy  sake.  "  That  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  church,  not  hav- 
ing spot,  or  wTinkle,  or  any  such  thing"  (Eph.  v.  27). 
The  Lord  Jesus  (if  we  may  so  speak)  shall  take  all 
His  little  ones  in  His  arms  at  the  last  day,  and  say, 
Father,  take,  there's  them  all.  And  then  He  shall 
give  up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father,  when  all  things 
shall  be  subdued,  and  made  subject  unto  Him;  ^Hhat 
God  may  be  all  in  all"  (i  Corinthians  xv.  28). 
May  a  poor  conscience  think,  alas  !  What  will  Christ 
do  with  me?  Answer,  Nay,  thou  shalt  not  fall  by*  in 
the  telling,  t  If  one  of  His,  thou  shalt  be  among  the 
rest ;  Christ  will  turn  His  hand  upon  thee  also. 

^'Little  oriesT — Who  be  these?  Those  who  are 
learning  to  speak,  and  can  cry  little  more  than  Abba, 
Father.  It  is  true,  except  ye  be  bom  again,  and  be  as 
little  children  who  are  learning  to  speak,  ye  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Little  children  who  are 
but  learning  to  speak,  have  not  high  spirits,  nor  ken 

*  Aside.  t  The  counting  over. 

D 


JO  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


what  pride  is.    Never  one  of  them  seeks  to  be  a  lord,  a 
prince,  or  a  king ;  though  they  be  King's  children.    ^ 
If  they  be  but  learning  to  speak  and  walk,  there  is  no 
striving  for  place  among  them,  as  among  the  old,  who 
must  have  a  place  in  ParHament.     So  are  all  those 
who  are  Christ's;   they  are  humble,  and   not   high- 
minded.     But  the  proud  man  is  a  broad  and  high 
man,  he  casts  up  his  heart  to  look  above  both  God  and 
man.   Habakkuk  ii.  5.    The  king  of  Babylon's  appetite 
was  as  wide  as  hell,  and  the  grave.     These  creatures^ 
greatly  swelled  with  pride,  must  have  much  driven  off 
them  before  they  enter  heaven's  gates.    For  the  porch 
door  of  the  palace  of  the  King  of  gloiy  is  low,  and 
narrow;    so  strait,  that,  ere  Christ-man  could  win  in, 
and   get  a  new  room  to  be  Prmce   and  Lord,  He 
became  a  little  one.      "  Being  found  in  fashion  as  a 
man,  He  humbled  Himself,  and  became  obedient  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross"    (Phil.    11.    8). 
Then,  bis:  men,  ye  will  not  win  to  heaven.     If  ye  say, 
Who  is  the  big  man?     Even  the  proud  man,  who  is  so 
long  and  so  broad,  and  the  door  of  heaven  so  Imv  and 
narrow,  that  there  must  be  much   clipped   off  him 
before  he  win  in  there.     Pride  gets  up  to  be  at  the 
throne  in  heaven,  the  country  where  it  was  first  con- 
ceived in  the  breast  of  the  proud  devils,  those  fallen 
stars  who  were  driven  out  of  heaven  for  their  pride. 
But  God  will  not  let  pride  in  there  again;  it  is  for  ever 
debarred.     Then  woe  to  the  proud  man,  for  he  shall 
not  enter  in  there.     Amongst   all   sins,  pride   takes 
most  room :  it  is  a  cumbersome  neighbour  to  God, 
•    and  would  be  in  upon  His  bounds.      The  prmce  of 
Tyrus  saith,  "  I  am  a  God,  I  sit  in  the  feet  of  God,  m  ^^ 
the  midst  of  the  seas"  (Ezekiel  xxviii.  2).     The  man 
who  is  not  2:iven  up  to  the  love  of  the  world  but  aead 
and  crucified  to   it  is  one   of  Christ's   little  ones. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


S' 


Then  the  covetous  man  cannot  enter  into  heaven; 
there  is  strange  tatters  of  clay  hanging  on  him.  He 
cannot  enter  until  the  bunch  be  driven  off  his  back. 
Ye  might  as  well  put  a  ship's  tow^  through  a  needle's 
eye.  Worldly  men  are  too  great  to  win  through  the 
strait  gate.  Adam,  ere  he  sinned,  was  a  little  one.  But 
O !  how  big  doth  sin  make  men.  In  a  word,  we  could 
be  content  with  heaven  if  we  could  win  there  with  our 
predominant  lusts.  We  have  no  will  to  want  anything 
in  length  and  breadth. 

'^  Afidit  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land,  saith 
the  Lord ;  two  parts  therein  shall  be  cut  off,  and  die,  but 
the  third  part  shall  be  left  therein^ — Here  is  an  uni- 
versal trial :  all  the  land  shall  be  divided  into  three 
parts,  two  parts  shall  be  cut  off  and  die,  and  the  third 
part  shall  come  into  the  fire,  come  out  as  they  will 
again.  All  must  go  through  God's  fire,  to  see  whether 
they  stand  it  or  not.  All  must  be  winnowed,  to  try 
whether  they  are  corn,  or  chaff,  Isaiah  xxxi.  9,  "  He 
is  called  the  Lord,  whose  fire  is  in  Zion,  and  His 
furnace  in  Jerusalem."  God  cannot  want  fire  in  His 
house,  He  has  aye  something  to  do  with  it.  And 
because  the  case  is  thus  with  us,  What  will  ye  do  when 
the  Lord's  fire  is  kindled  in  Zion?  Then  let  the  wicked 
now  laugh  at  the  righteous  for  adhering  to  God's  cause 
as  they  will,  we  will  one  day  see  who  will  laugh  best 
and  longest.  For,  when  the  trial  comes,  the  wicked — 
two  parts — shall  die ;  and  the  godly — one  part — shall 
be  left  alive. 

"  The  third  part  shall  be  /^/."— When  all  goeth  to 
all,  the  Lord's  third  part  shall  be  left,  and  His  kirk 
spared.  God  winnoweth  the  kirk,  but  let  the  hardest 
world  come  that  can  come,  He  will  aye  have  a  kirk, 

Cable. 


52 


COMMUNION'  SERMONS, 


and  not  want  a  witness.  This  is  it  that  the  enemies 
continually  hunt  after,  that  the  Lord  may  not  have  a 
kirk  on  the  earth.  The  gates  of  hell  are  opened,  and 
armies  are  come  from  hell  against  the  kirk  of  God. 
And  armies  from  Rome,  Antichrist,  and  the  Dragon, 
follow  the  woman  near  to  be  delivered  of  a  man-child : 
but  God  provides  a  place  for  her  in  the  wilderness. 
And,  howbeit,  the  dragon  spew  out  of  his  mouth  a 
flood  after  the  woman;  yet  the  earth  openeth  her 
mouth,  and  swalloweth  up  the  flood.  So  let  the 
enemies  rage,  let  the  devil  mount  on  horseback,  and  let 
all  his  vassals  put  on  their  armour  and  follow  him, 
they  shall  as  soon  put  Christ  out  of  heaven,  as  utterly 
destroy  the  kirk  of  God.  The  gates  of  hell  cannot 
prevail  there;  nay,  the  devil  and  all  his  emissaries 
shall  be  finally  overcome  at  last.  *^  Behold,  I  will 
make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  trembling  unto  all  the  people 
round  about."  A  cup  of  cold  poison ;  it  is  said  that 
those  who  drink  cold  poison  tiemble  to  death  with 
cold.  So  will  the  enemies  of  the  kirk.  *'In  that  day 
will  I  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome  stone  for  all 
people :  all  that  burden  themselves  with  it  shall  be 
cut  to  pieces,  though  all  the  people  of  the  earth  be 
gathered  together  against  it"  (Zech.  xii.  2,  3).  Let  them 
be  doing,  then,  and  dash  hard  heads  **  with  Christ,  and 
see  whose  head  is  hardest.  When  God  sets  the  house 
on  fire.  He  takes  out  His  children.  His  jewels,  and 
His  gold ;  and  lets  the  fire  take  the  rest,  though  they 
were  silks  and  satins. 

''And  shall  bring  ike  third  part  through  the  fireP— 
There  is  a  necessity  for  us  to  go  once  through  the 
fire.  Can  our  Lord  not  get  a  kirk  from  among  the 
dross,  but  by  fire  ?     No,  indeed.     Christ  plucks  His 

'  Job  XV.  26. 


COMMUNIOK  SERMONS. 


53 


own  out  of  hell,  and  from  among  the  rest  of  the 
world,  by  fire  and  sword,  as  it  were  by  the  hair  of 
the  head.  It  is  not  with  our  will  that  Christ  gets  us. 
To  be  short — those  who  come  to  Christ,  first  or  last, 
are  chased  upon  life  and  death.  Christ  wins  all  His 
at  the  point  of  the  sword  ere  He  get  them.  Every 
battle  of  the  warrior  is  with  confused  noise,  and  gar- 
ments rolled  in  blood ;  but  this  of  Christ  here  is  with 
burning  and  fuel  of  fire.  What  a  battle  had  the 
Lord  with  Jonah,  when  He  fought  with  him  in  the 
sea,  and  in  the  whale's  belly.  Also,  David,  near 
ten  months'  time,  held  out  a  castle  against  God ;  and 
our  Lord  behoved  to  fall  on,  both  with  word  and 
sword,  before  He  would  yield.  We  are  indeed  a 
piece  of  hard  metal,  and  ill  to  work.  Christ  will  spare 
no  pains  to  gain  His  own. 

'' I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the  fire  r — There 
is  a  sweet  word.  God,  says  he,  will  take  His  bride  by 
the  hand  in  the  furnace;  He  will  tell  them  each 
step  they  have  to  go  in  trouble.  ''  Because  he  hath 
set  his  love  upon  me,  therefore  will  I  deliver  him :  I 
will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath  known  my  name. 
He  shall  call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer  him  :  I  will 
be  with  him  in  trouble  ;  I  will  deliver  him,  and  honour 
him"  (Psalm  xci.  14,  15).  *^ When  thou  passest  through 
the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee ;  and  through  the  rivers, 
they  shall  not  overflow  thee  :  when  thou  walkest  through 
the  fire,  thou  shalt  not  be  burnt ;  neither  shall  the  flame 
kindle  upon  thee"  (Isaiah  xliii.  2).  Would  ye  ken  where 
the  Lord  is?  Even  at  the  bed-side  of  a  groaning 
child.  Yea,  when  His  people  are  in  a  swoon.  He  is 
under  their  head,  bearing  them  up;  and  when  in 
trouble.  He  has  them  by  the  hand,  and  sustains  them. 
Trow  ye  not  but  a  hold  of  His  hand  would  be  heart- 
ening to  them  though  they  were  in  hell  ?     He  has  a 


54  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


hold  of  you  by  the  hand,  and  ye  may  be  His,  though 
ye  know  it  not.  Ye  may  truly  believe  in  Him,  and 
not  have  the  sensible  assurance  thereof.  He  may  be 
leading  you  with  faith,  and  hope  of  light  and  direc- 
tion, though,  for  the  present,  ye  want  His  sensible 
presence.  Ye  may  be  raving  and  in  a  fever,  and  your 
heavenly  Father  at  your  bed-side,  howbeit  ye  see 
Him  not.  Because  ye  droop,  and  have  not  a  joyful 
sense  of  His  presence,  ye  say,  ^^  He  is  not  with  you.'* 
Ye  cry  with  the  kirk,  "  For  these  things  I  weep ;  mine 
eye,  mine  eye  runneth  down  with  water,  because  the 
comforter  that  should  relieve  my  soul  is  far  from  me" 
(LauL  i.  1 6).  How  far  from  you?  Even  standing  at 
the  furnace,  blowing  the  bellows,  and  looking  on  whilst 
His  gold  melts.  Ye  \vill  not  believe  that  your  sense 
can  make  a  lie  of  God.  Indeed,  it  were  easy  to  prove 
that  ye  are  seeking  a  plea*  with  God,  and  fancying  a 
fault  in  Him,  because  ye  get  not  a  feast  of  joy  and 
comfort.  May  it  not  satisfy  you,  that  He  leads  you  in 
trouble,  howbeit  He  kiss  you  not. 

^'  And  will  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined;  and  will 
fry  them  as  gold  is  tried.'' — Then,  if  there  be  any  good 
metal  in  you,  as  silver  and  gold,  make  ready  for  the 
furnace  of  the  children  of  God.  When  trouble 
comes  through  the  land,  His  people  are  ready  to  think 
that,  because  they  have  true  grace,  they  shall  be  kept 
from  the  scourge.  Nay,  but  your  gold  must  go  to  the 
fire  as  well  as  the  deviFs  dross.  Peter  says,  "  That 
the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more  precious  than 
the  gold  which  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  in  the  fire, 
might  be  found  unto  praise,  and  honour,  and  glory,  at 
the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ"  (i  Peter  i.  7;  Jer.  i.  18). 
There,  says  the  Lord,  "  I  have  made  thee  a  defenced 

•  A  quarrd. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


55 


city,  and  an  iron  pillar,  and  brazen  walls,  against  the 
whole  land,"  &c.  But  for  what  end?  Not  that 
Jeremiah  might  go  and  lay  himself  down  in  the  sun. 
No.  Verse  19,  "And  they  shall  fight  against  thee, 
but  they  shall  not  prevail  against  thee ;  for  I  am  with 
thee,  saith  the  Lord,  to  deliver  thee."  When  Jesus  is 
full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  devil  shoots  thiee  of  his 
arrows  at  Him,  one  after  another.  (Luke  iv.  i,  13.) 
So  it  is  with  God's  children.  When  Paul  was  con- 
verted, he  had  an  enemy  in  every  to^vn.  God's  gold 
is  made  for  the  fire,  and  not  to  be  laid  up  in  the 
comer  of  a  chest,  or  hidden  in  the  earth  as  the 
wretch's  pose.*  Then  make  you  for  the  fire,  I  say, 
make  you  for  it.  The  devil  will  blow  until  he  sweat, 
and  yoke  to  t  his  hammer-men  to  batter  you,  and  his 
plough  to  make  long  furrows  on  your  souls.  The 
enemies  of  the  kirk  are  the  devil's  under-smiths,  to 
mend  the  fire  and  blow  the  bellows.  Nay,  if  God  be 
sending  a  trial  on  this  land,  ye  are  to  thank  Him  for 
it.  Blessed  be  God,  because  He  hath  silver  and  gold 
in  Scotland !  Yea,  ye  say  ye  are  never  tempted.  Alas ! 
it  is  very  possible,  ye  are  but  deaf  nuts,  t  and  so  God 
thinks  He  will  not  lose  His  elding  and  fire-wood  for 
you.  A  city  or  town  that  the  devil  sets  not  on,  to 
take  it  in,  has  little  luck  in  it :  or  else  he  has  the  keys 
of  the  port  at  his  belt  already.  What  said  James, 
chapter  i.  2,  he  says,  "  My  brethren,  count  it  all  joy 
when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations ; "  but  ye  are 
ready  to  count  it  all  sorrow.  Christ  says,  "  Blessed  is 
the  man  that  endureth  temptation,  for  when  he  is 
tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  the 
Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  Him"  (James 
L  12).     Then,  beware  ye  be  not  all  dross,  for  the  fire 

*  The  miser's  hoard,     t  Set  on.     X  No  kernel  in  them. 


56  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


will  burn  you  into  white  ashes,  a  blast  will  blow  ye 
away,  and  ye  will  be  cast  out  like  dung,  and  turned 
into  hell.  For  would  ye  know  what  men  are  not 
gold?  The  men  who  are  all  soft  dross;  and  when  the 
burnt  dross  and  ashes  are  cast  out,  the  wind  blows 
them  away  through  the  air.  The  wicked  are  as  soft 
ashes,  and  a  blast  will  blow  them  all  away.  They  are 
as  soft  dross :  a  temptation  wins  into  the  soul,  prevails 
at  the  first  knock,  and  the  devil  goes  through  it  as  a 
feaF  dyke.  Let  Balaam  hear  tell  of  gold  !  because  he 
was  but  dross  that  temptation  went  through  him  :  he 
saddled  his  ass,  and  would  go  and  try  the  market. 
When  the  High  Priest  came  athwart  ^\ith  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  then  Judas  is  blown  away  with  it. 
When  Absalom  sees  an  appearance  of  the  people's 
hearts  being  towards  him,  he  yields  incontinent  and 
makes  to  it.  Nay,  I  think  when  the  temptation  comes 
to  the  wicked  man's  soul,  and  knocks,  he  knows  a 
friend's  tongue  at  the  door,  and  opens  and  lets  him  in; 
whereas  the  children  of  God  are  hardened  against 
troubles  and  temptations,  and  can  give  the  devil  three 
nay-says,  t 

''And  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my  Godr — Then 
the  people  were  at  a  feast  of  sense  and  joy,  when  they 
answered  God.  We  see  then  there  is  a  time  when  you 
get  your  sense  full;  as  much  joy  as  you  can  hold.  So 
was  the  Church,  Cant.  ii.  3,  *'  I  sat  down  under  his 
shadow  with  great  delight,  and  his  fruit  was  sweet  to 
my  taste."  But  gets  Christ  aye  an  answer  ?  No ;  He 
knocks  and  better  knocks,  1  Cant.  v.  5,  but  she  is 
more  concerned  about  a  good  sleep,  and  a  warm  bed, 
than  all  her  beloved's  love.  Yea,  ye  may  say,  Why  is 
it  not  aye  so  ?     Nay,  but  a  feast  of  sense  is  a ,  feast 

*  A  turf-fence.       t  Denials.      %  Knocks  over  and  over. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


57 


appointed  for  a  high  time.  Send  up  faith,  hope,  and 
love,  to  God,  for  it.  What  ails  you  at  your  meat? 
Nothing;  but  ye  have  a  lordly  stomach,  like  a  servant 
that  is  offended  if  he  be  not  as  well  fed  as  his  master. 
Sense  and  joy  are  kings'  meat,  to  be  enjoyed  in  heaven. 
Your  weak  stomach  is  like  the  children's,  who  love  to 
eat  meat  that  they  are  not  able  to  bear,  but  would  be 
death  to  them. 

"  They  shall  call  on  My  name'' — The  people  of 
God  claim  kindness  to  Him  even  in  the  fire,  and 
though  they  think  that  they  are  cast  off.  Nay,  the 
children  of  God  will  not  fall  out  with  Him  for  strokes  : 
they  cannot  be  driven  away  from  Him.  When  the 
children  of  this  world  are  put  away  from  God,  they 
take  their  leave  and  seek  another  master.  When  a 
servant  is  put  out  of  the  house,  and  gets  his  leave,  he 
will  not  break  his  heart;  he  goes  and  seeks  another 
master,  and  cares  as  little  for  the  former  one  as  he 
does  for  him.  But  a  son  cannot  do  so;  he  may  not 
quit  the  inheritance  so,  but  will  stay  about  the  house 
till  his  father  repent,  and  take  him  in  again.  The 
wicked  are  like  the  shipwrecked  man,  who  quits  the 
ship,  and  betakes  himself  to  swimming,  and  resolves 
to  make  legs  and  arms  serve  him  for  a  ship.  So  do 
the  wicked,  when  God  seems  to  be  a  wrecked  ship, 
they  quit  Him;  for  they  cannot  pray  in  trouble,  and 
therefore  resolve  to  swim.  I  do  not  love  it  when  men 
resolve  to  seek  another  refuge  than  God.  David 
could  say,  2  Sam.  xv.  26,  ^^  But  if  he  thus  say,  I  have 
no  delight  in  thee  ;  behold,  here  am  I,  let  Him  do  to 
me  as  seemeth  good  unto  Him."  He  is  showing  there 
how  little  the  Lord  is  obliged  to  him,  and  that  he  is 
patient,  and  willing  to  submit  to  the  Lord's  chastening, 
as  both  just  and  wise. 

But  is  it  not  presumption  to  lay  claim  to  God  when 


58  COMMimiON  SERMON'S. 


He  denies  us  ?  No.  Ye  desire  to  claim  kindness  to 
Him,  and  dare  not  give  up  with  Him  ?  I  say  that  is  a 
hold  of  the  covenant  which  ye  have.  Allowing,  but 
not  granting,  that  God  has  given  up  with  you,  yet  ye 
have  no  warrant  to  lose  your  hold  of  Him.  Although 
you  may  think  that  God  has  given  you  up,  yet  keep 
the  earnest  and  love  tokens  ye  got  at  the  communion; 
for  if  ye  begin  to  question  the  work  of  God,  that  is  to 
return  again  the  earnest  of  the  bargain  betwixt  you. 

'^  I  will  say,  It  is  My  people.''' — Here  a  sweet  meeting, 
a  sweeter  agreement  between  God  and  His  people 
than  if  they  had  never  fallen  out.  Hence  we  see  that 
after  a  sore  outcast  there  is  greater  love  betwixt  Christ 
and  His  people  than  before.  The  forlorn  "^  son  came 
home,  loved  his  father,  and  his  father's  house  and 
bread,  better  than  ever  he  did  before.  So  it  is  with 
the  people  of  God.  "  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time, 
saith  the  Lord,  the  children  of  Israel  shall  come,  they 
and  the  children  of  Judah  together,  going  and  weeping : 
they  shall  go  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God  :  they  shall 
ask  the  way  to  Zion,  with  their  faces  thither^vard, 
saying.  Come,  and  let  us  join  ourselves  to  the  Lord  in 
a  perpetual  covenant,  that  shall  not  be  forgotten"  (Jer.  1. 
4,  5).  And  He  says  in  the  sixth  verse,  "  My  people  hath 
been  lost  sheep ;  their  shepherds  have  caused  them  to 
go  astray;  they  have  turned  them  away  on  the  moun- 
tains." He  afterwards  promiseth  a  free  forgiveness, 
verse  20,  and  foretells  the  destruction  of  their  enemies, 
the  Babylonians,  verse  35.  Read  another  sweet  place, 
Jer.  xxxi.  20,  "Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son?  is  he  a 
pleasant  child?  for  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do 
earnestly  remember  him  still;  therefore  my  bowels  are 
troubled  for  him;  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him." 

Lost  prodigal 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


59 


Then  the   Lord  says,  Dear,  silly  Ephraim,  My  dear 
child,  has  a  broken  heart  that  he  has  grieved  Me,  and 
I  tell  you  I  have  a  sore  heart  and  troubled  bowels 
that  I  was  so  rough  to  him,  and  cast  him  off.     And  so 
there  is  a  new  embracing  betwixt  the  Lord  and  His  people 
(Ezekiel  xvi.  60),  &c.     There  God,  after  a  new  agree- 
ment, remembers  His  covenant  towards  them.     Then 
marvel  not;   though  there  be  new  out-casts  betwixt 
Christ  and  Scotland,  I  hope  that  the  end  of  it  shall  be, 
that  Christ  and  Scotland  shall  yet  weep  in  one  another's 
arms ;   and  the  poor  people,  after  they  have   come 
through  the  trial,  shall   go  towards   Zion,    and   say, 
Which  is  the  way  to  Zion  ?    Where  shall  we  find  the 
Lord  ?     When  the  Lord  shall  again  take  in  this  land 
anew.     As  after  a  wood  is  cut,  there  appears  a  fair 
young  green  wood,  so  the  Lord  will  have  a  numerous 
seed  yet  to  serve  Him  in  Scotland.    Scotland  will  have  a 
new  growth,  like  a  second  growth,  that  grows  after  a 
long  hot  drought.     There  will  be  many  sweet  calm 
showers,  summer  showers,  which  will  make  our  withered 
garden  grow  green  again ;  and  so  become  a  fair  green 
garden  with  many  pleasant  flowers.     Seek  to  be  among 
Christ's  little  ones,  and  covenant  yourself  away  to 
Him,  that  so  ye  may  be  able  to  say,  the  Lord  is  your 
God ;  and  that  He  may  acknowledge  you  to  be  His 
people.     And,  if  you  are  His,  there  is  no  fear  of  a 
happy  out-gate,  though  you  should  have  ever  so  many 
straits,  trials,  and  diflficulties  in  the  way.     The  Lord 
enable  you  to  close  with  Him.     Amen. 


SERMON        I  V. "- 

Then  said  He  unto  him^  A  certam  man  made  a  great  supper^  and 
bade  7nany  ;  a^id  sent  his  servant  at  supper  time  to  say 
to  them  that  were  bidden^  Cojiie ;  for  all  things  are  now 
ready ^  6^c. — Luke  xiv.  1 6,  17,  «S:c. 

THERE  are  two  things  which  we  have  to  mark  in 
this  parable.  i.  The  dependance  thereof  on 
the  preceding  words.  2.  The  sum  and  scope  of  Christ's 
words  therein. 

The  Lord  is  shewing  what  sort  of  guests  they  must 
invite  to  their  feast ;  even  the  poor  and  needy,  whom 
the  Lord  shall  recompense  ^^at  the  resurrection  of  the 
just."  Whereupon,  a  man  who  sat  at  meat  with  Him 
(whether  a  Pharisee  or  not  is  uncertain)  says  to  Christ, 
^'  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom  of 
God."  Many  call  them  happy  who  have  part  in 
Christ,  and  yet  think  it  not.  Many  will  talk  broad 
words  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  of  the  worth  of 
Christ ;  but  when  it  comes  to  this.  What  will  ye  quit 
for  Christ  ?  Will  ye  quit  your  farms  and  your  lands 
for  Christ?  Will  ye  quit  your  five  yoke  of  oxen  for 
Christ  ?  And  will  ye  quit  youi  new  married  wife,  and 
your  children,  for  Christ  ? — then  they  niake  a  stand, 
and  question  all.  We  are  all  good  Christians  till  we 
be  tried.     We  often  make  a  fair  profession,  while  we 

*  A  Preparation  Sermon,  before  the  Comrnunion,  at  Kirkma- 
breck,  in  Galloway,  1634. 


COMMUMON  SERMONS.  6 1 


mar  all  in  practice.  Many  do  with  Jesus  Christ  as 
onlookers  do  in  a  great  fair;  they  go  through  the 
market,  and  commend  everything  they  see,  but  never 
open  their  purse  to  buy  any  thing.  So  multitudes  can 
say,  ^'  It  is  good  to  be  a  Christian ;  O !  the  Son  of  God 
is  worth  all  the  world;"  but  they  will  never  offer  a 
penny  for  Christ's  cause.  They  will  not  want  a  ridge 
of  land,  nor  suffer  the  loss  of  an  ox  for  Him.  They 
will  rather  lose  their  immortal  souls  than  lose  their 
gear.  All  you  who  now  speak  proudly  of  Christ,  when 
persecution  comes,  see  w^hat  ye  will  lose  for  Him. 
Oh  !  the  Lord  Jesus  has  many  friends,  who  yet  are 
but  false  friends  and  flatterers  at  bottom.  They  will 
speak  good  of  Him,  but  will  do  no  good  for  Him. 
Few  leave  their  nets  and  custom-box  for  Him. 
But  the  man  who  finds  the  pearl,  he  sells  all,  and 
buys  it. 

This  man  would  here  say.  Blessed  are  they  who 
have  a  keen  appetite  to  banquet  with  Jesus  Christ. 
This  lets  us  see  that  many  have  a  false  stomach,  and 
can  call  them  blessed  who  eat  bread  with  Christ,  as  if 
it  were  from  true  hunger;  and  yet  it  is  only  like  the 
hunger  of  sick  folk,  who  cry  for  meat,  but  as  soon  as 
they  taste  of  it  their  stomach  recoils,  and  they  can 
take  no  more  of  it.  IMany  have  the  like  hunger  for 
Christ;  they  are  soon  full  of  Him  when  they  come  to 
the  table.  Balaam  could  say,  *'  How  goodly  are  thy 
tents,  O  Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel,"  and 
yet  for  the  peace  of  Jacob,  he  would  not  lose  court 
with  the  King  of  Moab.  The  petty  kings  of  clay  are 
often  obeyed  at  the  expense  of  disobeying  the  great 
King  of  heaven. 

I  now  come  to  enter  upon  the  particulars  of  the 
parable.  The  scope  of  it  is  to  show  "  that  few  obey 
the  gospel  of  Christ,"  set  down  under  the  similitude 


62  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


of  a  man  who  made  a  great  supper,  and  invited  many, 
who,  notwithstanding  of  that,  refused  to  come,  the 
parts  of  which  are  these : — 

I.  The  Preparation  of  the  Supper  :  *^  A  certain  7nan 
made  a  great  supper,  a?id  bade  via?iyr 

II.  The  Invitation  of  the  Guests  :  ^*  Come;  for  all 
things  are  ?iow  ready P 

III.  Their  refusal :  *'  They  all  with  one  consent 
began  to  make  excuse,'^  &c.     And — 

IV.  The  Servant's  coming,  and  "shewing  his  Lord 
these  things r 

The  Lord  then  takes  a  second  course  of  fihing  up  his 
table,  albeit  they  refuse  who  were  first  bidden;  for  he 
loses  not  his  supper.  Wisdom's  wine  that  was  drawn 
sours  not :  he  gets  two  sorts  of  guests  to  eat  his  meat. 
I.  The  diseased  and  poor.  II.  The  common  people 
up  and  down  the  streets.  And  then,  III.  Ye  have 
the  Lord's  sentence  upon  the  recusants  or  refusers. 

I.  ^^  A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper T — The  Lord 
is  here  offering  mercy  in  the  gospel,  and  is  compared 
to  a  man,  not  a  common  man,  nor  to  one  who  makes 
a  supper  only  for  his  friends.  This  shows  us  God's 
mercy  in  the  gospel.  He  shows  Himself  to  us  a  man, 
a  friend,  banqueting  us.  But  when  we  become  beasts, 
and  like  the  horse  or  mule  that  have  no  understanding, 
He  then  turns  from  a  man  to  a  lion,  and  to  the  house 
of  Judah  as  a  young  lion;  "I,  even  I,  will  tear  and 
go  away,  and  none  shall  rescue  him."  It  is  a  hard 
word  that  the  Lord  speaks  to  Ephraim,  Hos.  v.  14, 
"  I  will  be  unto  Ephraim  as  a  lion,  and  to  the  house 
of  Judah  as  a  young  lion."  If  we  be  men,  God  will 
be  a  man  to  us  ;  but  if  we  be  beasts,  God  is  as  a  Hon 
and  a  bear.  Lam.  iii.  10,  "  He  was  unto  me  as  a  bear 
l)n[ng  in  wait,  and  as  a  lion  in  secret  places." 

Use.     God  carries  Himself  to  us  as  a  man  and  a 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  63 


friend,  and  has  been  feasting  us  these  seventy  years  ; 
and,  I  assure  you,  the  Lord  is  near  the  drawing  of  the 
table.  The  ordinary  time  of  removing  the  table  is, 
when  all  at  it  are  full,  and  can  eat  no  more.  The 
gospel  is  now  loathed  by  us,  and  the  word  of  God 
contemned.  At  the  beginning  of  this  Supper,  one 
sermon  or  a  Communion  was  sweet ;  people  ran  to  it 
hke  hungry  banqueters ;  now  it  is  disregarded.  One 
sermon  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  banquet  is  now 
thought  sufficient.  Well,  I  see  men  are  fallen  asleep. 
I  fear,  beloved,  I  fear  (think  of  it  as  ye  please) 
the  word  shall  be  taken  from  you,  the  board  drawn, 
and  the  plague  of  the  Lord  follow  it.  Amos  viii.  2, 
The  famine  of  the  word  of  God  shall  come.     The 

11.  Part  of  the  parable  is,  the  Lord's  invitation  of 
the  guests,  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready ^ — 
Here  there  be  three  things,  i.  A  commission  to  His 
servant,  that  is,  His  ministers,  to  bid  those  that  were 
called  Come.  2.  The  Time — It  is  at  supper-time. 
3.  A  Reason — ^'All  things  are  now  readyT 

I  shall  only  touch  these  points,  and  briefly  go  over 
the  words. 

Doctrine,  The  Lord  invites  us  to  a  banquet  and 
great  Supper.  That  is  the  hardest  word  that  the 
Gospel  speaks  to  poor  sinners,  ''  Come."  Never  a 
word  of  hell,  the  wrath  of  God,  or  the  plagues  of  God 
for  sin.  But  His  words  are  all  (though  He  speaks  in 
wrath  to  His  enemies),  My  dear  friends,  I  shall  think 
Myself  in  your  common,*  if  ye  will  come  and  sup  with 
Me.  Surely,  beloved,  the  Lord  might  have  supped 
Hist  alone.  The  angels  are  good  company;  but  God 
thinks  He  wants  company  if  the  children  of  men  are 
not  with  Him !     In  Proverbs  viii.   31,  says  Wisdom 

*  Under  obligation  to  you.    +  Without  any  to  bear  Him  company. 


/ 


64  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


(which  is  Christ),  ^'  I  was  with  God,  yet  playing  and 
sporting  with  the  children  of  men."  Here,  indeed,  is 
love  itself,  the  Lord  inviting  us  to  embrace  the  gospel ! 
He  resembles  it  to  a  great  supper.  Merciful  God !  Thou 
mightest  command  us,  under  the  pain  of  condemnation, 
to  come  and  believe  in  the  Son  of  God.  But  not  a 
word  of  that  here  :  the  Lord  will  hire  us  to  come  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven — this  is  evangelic.  The  first 
word  that  the  gospel  speaks  is  mercy,  mercy  to  poor 
sinners.  Song  v.  2,  The  key  wherewith  Christ,  the 
husband,  opens  the  heart  of  His  kirk  is,  ''  Open  to 
Me,  My  sister.  My  love,  My  dove.  My  undefiled; 
for  My  head  is  filled  with  dew,  and  My  locks  with  the 
drops  of  the  night."  He  might  have  said,  AVoe  be  to 
thee,  thou  hast  put  me  to  the  door,  and  hast  taken  a 
strange  lover  in  My  place ;  I  will  quit  thee ;  I  will  go 
suit*  in  another  place  ;  the  back  of  My  hand  to  thee  ; 
I  shall  never  look  on  thee  again.  No ;  but  His 
hardest  knock  is.  Sweet  Dove,  Love,  Fair  One,  I  am 
both  wet  and  weary  ;  let  Me  not  lie  in  the  streets  ali 
night.  Jer.  iii.  14,  *^Turn,  O  backsliding  children, 
saith  the  Lord."  What  is  the  Lord's  argument  to 
move  him  ?  "  For  I  am  married  unto  you,  I  am  your 
husband."  Hosea  xi.  3,  "I  taught  Ephraim  to  go 
taking  them  l^y  the  arms."  God's  mercy  is  a  great 
net ;  all  the  fish  that  come  in  the  net  are  brought  to 
land.  Well,  beloved,  this  is  the  gospel's  voice. 
Come,  ye  wearied  and  laden ;  but  this  voice  will  not 
last  aye.  In  that  day  when  the  heavens  shall  part 
away  like  a  scroll,  the  elements  melt  with  heat,  and 
the  wicked  cry,  ^^ Hills  and  mountains,  fall  on  us,  and 
hide  us  from  the  face  of  the  Lamb,  for  the  great  day 
of  Llis  wrath  is  come,  and  who  can  stand?"     Not  a 

*  Go  to  woo  souls. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  65 


word  of  a  Supper  then.  Alas  !  the  board  will  be 
dra^^^l,  and  God  will  not  care  for  your  company  then. 
The 

Second  particular  is,  The  servant  is  sent  out  at 
supper-time,  near  night,  and  bed-time.  Then  the 
day  of  God's  mercy  is  but  a  supper-time  ;  the  edge 
of  the  evening ;  the  sun-setting.  As  long  as  the 
gospel  speaks,  it  ever  cries,  Come,  welcome,  Avelcome, 
Sinners,  ye  will  be  welcome  to  sup  with  the  Lord. 

When  all  the  rest  were  set  down  at  the  table,  Paul 
came  in,  and  the  master  of  the  house  gave  him  the 
board-head. 

Use,  We  shall  be  as  welcome  to  come  in  at  mid- 
supper,  as  thos^.  were,  who  came  to  the  Lord's  vine-- 
yard  at  the  sixth  and  ninth  hour  of  the  day.  If  ye 
come  at  the  board-drawing,  as  the  thief  who  died  at 
Christ's  right  hand,  and  those  who  came  at  the 
eleventh  hour,  ye  come  to  the  dessert.  But,  beloved, 
I  beseech  you,  beware  that  ye  come  not  after  supper, 
when  the  board  is  drawn,  the  goodman  of  the  house 
in  his  bed,  and  the  door  shut,  as  the  foolish  virgins 
did.  Remember  that  it  is  even  now  Supper-time, 
while  the  word  is  preached,  and  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  body  and  blood  offered ;  and  blessed  are 
they  Avho  come  to  the  Supper.  But  woe  be  to  them 
who  come  after,  for  they  shall  lie  down  in  the  beds 
of  their  graves  unsupped.  As  Job  says  of  the  hypo- 
crite, *'  Their  bones  shall  be  full  of  the  sins  of  their 
youth."  Oh  !  the  world  has  many  debtors,  ill  debtors, 
who  sell  their  souls  for  sin ;  but  what  a  pitiful  thing  ! 
for  what  can  they  give  in  exchange  for  their  souls  ? 
A  man  who  has  to  cross  the  water  will  run  at  the 
first  call  of  the  seamen,  because  he  knows  the  tide 
will  i-ot  wait  him.  And  yet  now,  men  who  profess 
they  would  sail  to  Canaan,  will  not  come  out  at  the 


66  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


voice  of  the  Lord's  mariners,  crying,  '^  Come,  it  is  now 
tide;"  but  they  let  the  sea  ebb,  and  sit  still.  And 
this  is  the  devil's  craft,  when  we  have  our  one  foot  on 
the  shore,  and  the  other  in  the  ship,  and  have  a  pur- 
pose to  sail  from  our  sins,  Satan  has  a  word  to  say. 
The  Levite's  father-in-law,  urged  him  to  stay  a  night 
>\dth  him,'-'  and  promised  him  he  should  go  to-morrow, 
but  then,  tempted  him  to  stay  another  night.  Even 
so  it  is  here,  after  we  have  stayed  in  the  devil's  service 
one  year,  he  will  urge  us  to  stay  another  year,  and  pro- 
mise he  shall  then  demit.  O  !  that  we  were  wise  to 
close  our  eyes  and  ears  at  Satan's  delays  and  tempta- 
tions. And  now  in  the  short  time  of  the  Gospel, 
while  the  table  is  covered^  embrace  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  says  the  Lord ;  **  the 
night  Cometh  wherein  no  man  can  work."  Our  sins 
tell  us  that  the  long  shadows  are  approaching;  the 
night  is  at  hand,  the  gospel  is  to  be  removed,  and 
happy  are  they  who  sup  in  time.     The 

Third  particular  is  the  reason  why  they  should 
come — "  For  all  thmgs  are  ?iow  prepared^  And  so 
reasons  Solomon,  Pro  v.  ix.  i,  2,'j"\Visdom  hath  builded 
her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven  pillars ;  she 
hath  killed  her  beasts ;  she  hath  mingled  her  wine ; 
she  hath  also  furnished  her  table."  Matt  xxii.  4,  *^  Tell 
them  which  are  bidden.  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my 
dinner;  my  oxen  and  my  fatlings  are  killed,  and  all 
things  are  ready,  come  to  the  marriage."  Thus  is 
mercy  offered  to  the  people  of  the  Jews,  where  their 
God  made  all  external  means  (as  the  word  and  sacra- 
ment) ready  for  them.  So  that  he  says,  in  Isaiah  v.  4, 
What  could  I  have  done  more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I 
have  not  done.     (Isaiah  Ixv.  2),  He  stretches  out  His 

*  Judges  xvi.  6. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  67 


arms,  and  holds  them  out  all  the  day  long.  (Prov.  i.  20), 
*^  Wisdom  crieth  without,  she  uttereth  her  voice  in  the 
streets.''  Here  God  is  crying,  shouting,  and  casting 
out  His  arms,  Matt  xxiii.  37,  Luke  xix.  40,  crying 
and  shedding  tears.  He  would  have  them  turn  and 
live.  But  as  it  is  true  of  the  Jews,  so  it  is  of  us ;  He 
has  dressed  the  whole  Supper  Himself,  covered  the 
table,  and  there  is  no  more  for  us  to  do,  but  sit  down 
and  eat.  If  we  look  to  this  dressed  Supper,  Christ 
dressed  it  all  Himself,  in  the  furnace  of  God's  wrath, 
and  the  bread  that  we  here  eat  is  His  flesh,  which  He 
gave  for  the  life  of  the  world.  John  vi.  51,  The  wine 
which  is  mingled  and  drawn  is  His  blood.  And,  O, 
sirs,  was  not  our  Lord  a  hot  man  in  making  ready  this 
Supper  ?  Not  one  dish  is  mis-cooked,  all  is  set  before 
us  in  the  gospel,  and  Jesus  craves  no  more  for  all  His 
pains,  but  only  that  His  friends  come  to  the  banquet 
and  eat  and  be  merry  ;  and  if  ye  will  come,  Christ  will 
ixiy  all  the  reckoning.  When  the  Israelites  wxre  fed 
with  manna,  they  behoved  to  go  out  of  the  camp,  and 
gather  it  themselves ;  but  we  furnish  nothing  of  this 
Supper.  God  be  thanked,  Christ  bears  all  the  expense. 
Alas  !  alas !  that  the  unhappy  world  will  not  eat 
heartily,  since  Christ  pays  for  all.  The  poor  sons  of 
Adam  wxre  all  sick  and  at  the  point  of  death,  and 
their  stomachs  were  so  spoiled  with  a  sour  apple  that 
Adam  did  eat,  that  they  were  famished  and  not  able 
to  eat.  In  comes  Jesus  and  makes  a  medicinal  dinner 
of  His  own  flesh  and  blood  ;  lays  down  Himself  and  is 
slain  to  make  physic  of  His  crucified  body  for  us,  in 
order  to  afl'ect  our  cure.  It  is  just  they  die  for  hun- 
ger, and  lose  their  stomach  for  evermore,  who  loathe 
this  meat.  In  the  sacrament  all  things  are  ready; 
>vhatever  the  soul  wants,  it  shall  find  at  the  Table.  AH 
the  hungry  shall  find  Christ  meat  and  drink.    John  vi. 


68  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


55,  They  who  are  poor  shall  find  Him  gold,  they  who 
are  naked  shall  find  Him  garments,  they  who  are  blind 
shall  find  Him  light  to  the  eyes.  (Rev.  iii.  1 8),  *'  I  counsel 
thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest 
be  rich :  and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed, 
and  that  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear ; 
and  anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest 
see."  Look  to  the  Supper  and  ye  shall  find  it  very 
expensive  to  Christ,  for  the  fire  tha.t  made  it  ready 
was  the  wrath  of  God  ;  the  fuel  and  the  elding*  was 
Christ,  and  a  great  burden  of  the  sins  of  the  elect  on 
His  back.  And  if  Jesus  had  not  been  green  timber 
He  had  been  burnt  all  to  ashes.  Christ  was  first  boiled 
in  His  own  blood,  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane;  then 
He  was  roasted  and  burnt  on  the  cross,  and  carved  all 
to  pieces  with  nails,  spears,  and  bulfetings,  to  make 
Him  God's  bread  for  the  mouth  and  stomach  of  be- 
lievers. And  the  sourest  sauce  in  this  supper  to 
Christ,  was  His  dear  Father  hiding  Himself  And  when 
all  is  done  ye  cannot  do  Him  a  worse  turn  than  not 
to  eat  heartily.  Now,  for  the  Lord's  sake,  beloved, 
please  thegoodman  of  the  house,  and  eat  and  welcome. 
The  last  wine  will  be  the  best  What  would  ye  have  ! 
Here  is  sweet  company,  eat,  ye  are  heartily  welcome ; 
and  ye  use  to  call  that  great  cheer  that  has  great  ser- 
vants. Then  there  is  not  a  plate  set  on  this  table  by 
angels,  far  less  by  man.  A  curse  upon  them  who  bring 
in  Mary's  Milk,  with  Martyrs'  Blood,  as  a  dessert  ! 
No,  Christ's  blood  is  in  every  dish,  Christ's  flesh  is  in 
every  mess,  and  Christ's  merit  is  a  sweet  sauce  to  all 
the  messes.  Other  meats  have  no  taste  at  this  Supper. 
No,  they  are  plain  poison,  put  in  by  the  devil's  hand. 


*  The  wood  for  fire. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


69 


who  would  wish  never  a  living  man  to  rise  from  the 
table,  but  all  to  be  poisoned. 

III.  '^  A7id  they  all  with  one  co?isent  began  to  make 
excuse.^^ — Reason  would  hold  the  opinion,  that,  when 
the  Lord  makes  a  great  Supper  for  the  world,  they 
would  all  be  glad  to  come,  and  take  a  meal  from  Him ; 
and  that  they  would  all  run,  striving  who  might  be 
foremost  at  the  table,  and  nearest  the  Lord's  hand  ! 
No,  but  it  is  not  so  here ;  for  there  be  three  sorts  of 
men,  who  all  with  one  consent  refuse  to  come. 
The  first  says,  I  have  bought  a  farm  :  the  second, 
I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen  :  and  the  third  says, 
I  have  married  a  wife.  Honour  holds  away  the  first ; 
riches  and  profit,  the  second;  and  pleasure  and  lust, 
the  third.  It  has  been  so  since  the  beginning.  God 
and  the  world  have  aye  been  at  holding  and  draw- 
ing for  men's  soul ;  God  draws  and  the  world  holds 
fast.  Here  be  the  world's  three  gods  :  honour,  profit, 
and  pleasure.  This  is  their  trinity,  their  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.  John,  in  his  first  Epistle,  chapter  ii., 
sets  down  the  doctrine  of  the  world's  trinity.  In  that 
place  he  is  forbidding  men  to  love  the  world,  and  gives 
good  reason  for  it.  Says  he,  verse  16,  ^^  For  all  that 
is  in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,"  that  is,  inordi- 
nate pleasure,  "and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,"  that  is, 
coveteousness,  '^and  the  pride  of  life,"  that  is,  honour, 
"is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world." 

'^  A?id  they  all  with  one  cofisent^^  says  the  Lord, 
"  reftised.^^  I  would  have  you  to  consider  two  things. 
I.  The  refusal  of  the  guests.  2.  The  number  of 
recusants. 

For  the  first,  ^^ All  with  one  coiisent  began  to  make 
excHseP — Indeed,  it  seems  wonderful  that,  amongst  the 
three  sorts  of  people,  not  one  of  them  will  leave  so  much 
as  an  ox  for  Christ !  May  not  the  Lord  bring  them  all  in 


70  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


to  the  Supper  whom  He  calls  ?  I  answer,  He  may  do 
that ;  "  For  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen  "  (Matt.  -^^ 
xxii.  14).'  But  we  must  here  consider  one  of  the 
deepest  mysteries  of  God's  counsel.  There  is  a  two- 
fold calling.  I.  There  is  one-external,  or  out^Yard, 
whereby  God  calls  men  who  obey  not :  here  many  are 
called  to  the  Supper,  but  few  come.  2.  There  is  an 
inward  calling,  whereof  the  Apostle  speaks,  Romans 
viii.  30,  "  Moreover,  whom  He  did  predestinate,  them 
He  also  called ;  and  whom  He  called,  them  He  also 
justified." 

I  St.    If  you   look   at    God's   outward  calling,    in  I 

respect  of  the  word  and  sacraments.  This  calling  ' 
finds  men  hand  and  foot  in  Satan's  chains,  and 
looses  them  not ;  for  God  has  bound  them.  He  bids 
them  loose  themselves,  as  they  are  obliged  to  do; 
because  obedience  is  a  debt  that  reprobates,  in  so  far  \ 
as  they  are  God's  creatures,  are  owing  to  Him.  And  \ 
why  should  not  the  great  Creator  and  Lord  of  the 
universe  crave  dyvours  and  bankrupts,  although,  by 
their  own  fault,  they  have  nothing  wherewith  to  pay  ? 
And,  therefore,  unto  both  such  as  are  effectually  called, 
and  such  as  obtain  not  grace  to  obey,  the  Lord  is 
crying,  Dyvour,  pay  thy  debt  or  else  go  to  prison. 
God,  not  having  elected  them  to  salvation,  and  finding 
them  in  the  state  of  sin,  and  so  only  slaves  and 
bastards  (for  the  Cautioner,  Christ,  will  not  pay  every 
bastard's  debt),  He  leaves  them  with  this.  Either  pay 
or  die ;  and  they  willingly  lie  still,  and  love  to  live, 
and  die  in  Satan's  arms.     But 

j     2nd.  There  is  an  inward  calling,  whereby  God,  not 
[only  by  His  word,  cries  and  shouts  to  waken  up  sleep-  .^ 
'ing  sinners  :  but  also  by  His  Spirit  inwardly  breathes   *• 
^  the  life  of  God  into  them,  and  sets  them  upon  their 
feet.     Those  are  said  to  be  given  of  the  Father  to  the 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


7? 


Son ;  the  Son  receives  and  keeps  them  :  and  this  is  a 
wonderful  calling.  The  Father  craves  the  debt  of 
obedience  from  us,  and  says,  "Pay,  and  obey  My 
calUng,  as  ye  are  obliged  to  do ; "  and  in  comes  the 
Son,  by  His  Spirit,  and  slips  the  sum  into  our  hand, 
even  the  price  of  obedience,  and  says.  Because  My 
name  is  in  the  contract  betwixt  the  Father  and  you,  I 
will  give  you  to  pay  my  Father  withal ;  and,  so  long 
as  I  have,  you  shall  not  want.  So  that,  although 
the  elect  be  dyvours,  yet  they  are  their  Father's 
dyA'Ours;  and  have  a  good  Friend  that  pays  for 
them. 

In  this  calling  there  is  a  great  mystery.  God  is  both 
calling  and  answering  in  our  hearts.  In  a  good 
sense,  this  calling  is  God's  calHng  upon  His  OAvn 
Spirit  in  us,  and  we  returning  an  answer  by  that 
same  Spirit  which  dwelleth  in  us — the  Father  cry- 
ing, Come  to  the  Supper,  My  elect  people;  and 
the  Son,  by  His  Spirit  answering  in  our  hearts.  My 
Father,  behold  we  are  coming.  In  the  Word  of  God, 
this  calling  is  called  a  knocking  at  the  door  of  our 
hearts  for  access  to  come  in  and  sup  with  us.  And, 
indeed,  at  one  time  the  Lord  is  without  knocking 
for  admittance,  and  at  another  time  He  is  within 
opening  the  door — without  knocking,  and  within 
drawing.  Ye  will  find  Scripture  for  this.  Acts  xiv.  14, 
Paul  is  preaching  to  Lydia's  heart :  now,  behold,  there 
is  God  without  calling  and  knocking  by  the  word ; 
and  behold,  in  the  same  verse  it  is  said,  '^The  Lord 
opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  that  she  attended  unto 
the  things  which  were  spoken  of  Paul."  God  be 
thanked,  God  craves  and  pays  for  us.  While  God 
is  crying.  Open,  His  one  arm  is  without  the  door 
knocking,  and  the  other  arm  is  within  drawing  the  bolt, 
and  preparing  a  lodging  for  Himself.     God  is  His  own 


.72 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


harbinger,^  He  makes  His  own  bed,  dresses  His  own 
supper,  sweeps  His  own  lodging,  and  does  all 
when  He  comes.  He  has  nothing  of  us  but  bare 
house-room :  all  the  furniture  is  His  own :  He 
brings  all  with  Him.  The  ground  and  reason  of 
this  inward  calling  and  sweet  election  thus  run 
equally  together.  Election  is  the  King^s  letters  and 
decreet,  ordaining  such  persons,  by  their  names,  to 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  effectual  calling  is  comprise- 
ment  and  imprisonment,!  following  upon  these  same 
letters,  whereby  such  as  are  in  Christ's  Roll  and 
Register  Book,  are  called  by  the  word  to  grace  and 
glory.  And,  when  they  force |  the  King's  charge,  the 
Father  draws  them,  and  the  Son  bears  them  in  His 
arms  :  then  He  rides  upon  the  white  horse  of  the 
gospel,  and  shoots  the  arrow  of  the  irresistible  word 
of  God  into  the  hearts  of  God's  elect,  so  that  they 
must  obey  and  become  the  Lord's  prisoners.  His 
conquered,  ransomed,  and  bought  ones  by  virtue  of 
the  Father's  decreet.  §  Thus  the  Son  has  caption 
against  the  elect.  The  Father  gives  them  to  the  Son, 
and  He  will  not  want  them  (Cant.  ii.  14).  He  draws 
His  church  (John  vi.  44).  The  Spirit  of  the  Father 
draws  us  to  the  Son ;  for  that  Christ  has  of  the  Father 
by  gift,  and  that  He  has  by  good  right  paid  for.  It  is 
no  riot  for  Him  to  break  both  doors  and  \vindows 
in  the  soul  to  get  His  own.  He  has  law  upon  His 
side,  and  a  sufficient  decreet  passed  and  subscribed 
by  His  Father's  hand.  And  the  doctrine  that  arises 
from  this  is, 

I.  That  the  outward  means  of  the  word,  without 


One  who  goes  on  before  to  provide  lodgings, 
f  Apprehension.  X  Refuse. 

§  A  writ  ordering  the  arrest  of  a  person. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  73 


the  inward  working  of  the  Spirit,  will  not  bring  us  to 
the  King  s  Supper.  Here  are  many  called,  but  they 
excuse  themselves  that  they  cannot  come,  because  of 
other  employments.  This  should  teach  us  to  hang 
upon  the  word,  but  withal  to  look  beyond  the  word, 
and  with  the  use  of  the  word,  call  for  the  inward  grace 
of  the  Spirit.  It  is  not  the  bottle  of  the  physician 
that  heals  the  sick,  but  the  medicine  in  the  bottle. 
The  word  and  sacraments  are  but  empty  bottles, 
except  the  Lord  fill  them  with  His  virtue;  and  without 
this  secret  virtue  we  shall  set  our  mouth  to  an  empty 
bottle,  and  draw  in  wind,  to  the  hurt  of  our  souls  and 
stomachs,  which  shall  prove  the  savour  of  death  unto 
death,  and  not  the  wine  of  God's  refreshing  grace. 
Our  Lord,  speaking  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  says 
two  sundry  times  (John  iv.),  that  it  is  He  who  gives 
the  water  of  life.  Now,  indeed,  in  the  word  and 
sacraments  is  the  well  of  life ;  and  since  that  well  is 
opened  up  in  the  house  of  David,  good  reason  that 
He  be  found  of  His  own,  and  that  He  be  steward  of 
His  own  heart's  blood,  and  only  have  the  key  at  His 
owTi  girdle.  And  for  what  cause  else  is  the  kirk  said 
to  lie  within  the  two  arms  of  Christ  ?  (Song  ii.)  How 
can  she  then  fall  into  a  swoon  for  hunger,  or  faint 
when  she  is  in  the  house  of  wine,  where  she  may  be 
cheered  up  with  the  comforts  of  His  word?  Yes, 
indeed,  even  there  at  the  fountain  head  she  will  die, 
except  the  Lord  hold  the  cup  of  spiritual  refreshment 
to  her  mouth.  This  was  experienced  in  Ezekiel's  day 
by  the  dry  bones,  chapter  xxxvii.,  where  he  says,  the 
Lord  caused  him  to  prophesy;  then  bone  came  to 
bone,  and  sinews  upon  the  bones,  and  flesh  upon  the 
sinews;  then  to  prophesy  to  fetch  spirit  and  breath 
that  they  might  live.  So  the  word  without  the  Spirit 
is  a  blank  charter,  without  our  name  written  in  it, 


74  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


without  a  seal,  and  without  a  subscription.  The 
sacrament  without  the  Spirit  is  no  better  than  a  piece 
of  naked  wax  without  seals  of  land.     The 

Second  point  is,  the  number  of  recusants.  ^^They 
all  with  one  consent  began  to  viake  excuse^^  says  the 
Lord.     Hence,  observe, 

1.  The  number  who  follow  an  ill  course  are  the 
greatest,  Gen.  vi.  12.  In  Ahab's  days,  there  was 
only  one  honest,  Micaiah,  while  there  was  four  hun- 
dred lowns.*  Abraham  durst  not  give  his  word  that 
there  would  be  five  righteous  persons  in  five  great 
cities.  Jer.  i.  18,  Against  the  Lord  and  Jeremiah, 
are  kings,  princes,  priests,  and  people:  there  is  a 
whole  parliament,  the  three  Estates  of  the  land. 
Desolate  truth  stands  her  alone  ;t  she  has  a  thin 
court  (Matt,  xxvii.  21).  Men  would  say.  Sin  has  not 
such  a  throng  court  now  as  it  had  in  the  days  of 
Christ ;  for  now  men,  because  of  their  oxen  and  their 
land,  come  to  Christ's  Supper.  This  is  soon  said. 
If  we  mean  only  eating  and  drinking,  that  proves 
nothing  to  justify  our  age;  for  Judas  came  that  way; 
and  if  the  devil  himself  had  a  true  body,  he  might 
come  to  the  Lord's  table  in  that  way.  But  how 
many  in  this  kirk  leave  their  hearts  at  home,  when 
they  come  to  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Try  your  con- 
sciences here. 

2.  It  condemns  the  religion  of  our  time.  *^  We 
live  as  our  neighbours,"  say  many.  Many  have  a 
custom  of  swearing.  Will  ye  do  so,  then?  I  say, 
these  men  take  upon  credit,  and  believe  as  the  world 
does.  Company  is  good,  but  company  in  hell  is 
small  comfort.  Men  vow  Christ  to  be  their  husband, 
just  as  kings  woo  their  queens;  for  they  only  hear  of 

Rogues.  +  Unsupported. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


75 


them  by  report,  and  see  their  pictures,  and  upon  that 
marriage  passes  betwixt  them :  so  the  men  of  our  age 
hear  of  Christ  by  report.  They  paint  a  heaven  in 
their  own  head,  and  a  faith  of  their  own,  and  run  as 
a  beast  after  the  drove.  But  a  man  who  would  serve 
Christ  as  he  should  do,  must  indeed  be  a  mocking 
stock  to  the  world,  and  a  wonder  to  many,  Psalm 
Ixxi.  7.  But  think  nothing  to  be  counted,  with 
Marius,  a  good  man,  all  except  one  thing,  that  is, 
he  is  a  Christian.  Their  answer  is  not  a  flat  denial 
of  God,  and  a  disgraceful  speaking  of  the  Supper; 
but  they  all  form  a  reason,  every  one,  and  desire  to 
be  excused.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  excuse  I 
pray  ?  You  tell  God  that  ye  love  Him,  ye  love  His 
Supper,  ye  love  to  be  in  His  company;  but  say,  "I 
pray  Thee  have  me  excused;''  I  cannot  but  love  my  land, 
my  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  my  \vife,  better  than  Thee. 
But  if  men  knew  Christ,  they  would  say.  Woe  be  to 
that  farm,  woe  be  to  that  ox,  and  woe  be  to  that 
pleasure,  that  holds  Christ  and  me  asunder  so  long. 
However,  they  refuse  to  come  to  the  Supper,  yet 
they  give  a  fair  excuse  to  the  Lord,  and  pray  him  to 
excuse  them. 

2.  There  is  no  sin  we  commit,  if  it  were  even  to 
the  treading  of  the  blood  of  the  New  Covenant 
under  foot,  but  we  put  a  mask  on  it.  The  devil  has 
taught  men  to  baptize  their  sin  with  a  new  name, 
lest  it  should  appear  Irightful.  The  murdering  of 
the  Son  of  God  is  done  by  an  assembly  of  kirk- 
men,  under  a  fair  pretence :  "  We  have  a  law,  and  by 
that  law  He  ought  to  die."  Idolatry  is  called  humble 
kneeling.  Satan  is  a  coiner  of  false  money,  and  upon 
his  reprobate  coin  he  puts  the  King  of  heaven's 
stamp.  Herod's  killing  is  sold  for  worshipping; 
killing  of  the  saints  is  called  good  service  to  God.    The 


7  6  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


devil  comes  to  none  and  says,  "  I  am  the  devil,  hear 
my  counsel,  and  I  shall  draw  you  to  hell."  No,  he 
is  not  such  a  fool;  he  changes  himself  into  an  angel 
of  light.  Blessed  are  they  who,  in  the  wisdom  of 
God's  Spirit,  can  pull  the  mask  off  the  devil,  and  sin; 
see  the  devil  to  be  the  devil,  and  sin  to  be  sin.  If 
God's  commandment  be  uppermost,  it  is  no  hard 
matter  to  discern  sin.  If  God  command  a  duty,  no 
excuse  in  the  world  should  cover  thy  disobedience. 
Alas !  What  excuse  can  men  have  for  staying  from 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  1  for  refusing  of  Jesus  Christ 
crucified?  How  can  Satan  run  so  far  into  men's 
hearts,  as  to  make  them  say  in  God's  face,  "  Excuse 
me.  Lord,  I  cannot  come  to  heaven !  Excuse  me,  I 
cannot  believe  in  Christ,  because  I  have  other  busi- 
ness to  do!"  What  horrible  ingratitude  is  here?  God 
offers  a  heavenly  inheritance  for  a  few  acres  of  land, 
but  they  refuse  God,  and  neglect  the  offer  of  Christ. 
Now  here  is  the  first  excuse. 

"  /  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxeru^'' — O,  merciful  God ! 
ohall  an  acre  of  land,  or  an  ox,  be  laid  in  the  balance 
with  Christ  ?  Woe  be  to  them.  Oh !  how  many 
Esaus  be  there  in  the  world,  who  sell  their  heavenly 
inheritance  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  Since  the  day 
that  Adam  did  eat  of  the  forbidden  tree,  the  taste  of 
our  souls  is  so  corrupt,  that  we  call  sweet  sour,  and 
put  sour  for  sweet.  Jesus  Christ  is  like  the  white  of 
an  ^gg^  tasteless  in  the  world's  mouth.  Give  to 
Balaam  the  King  of  Moab's  gold,  and  for  all  his 
broad  words,  he  seeks  not  another  heaven.  Let 
Jeroboam  keep  the  kingdom,  he  cares  not  for  God's 
worship;  but  for  fear  the  people  revolt,  he  will  not 
let  them  go  to  Jerusalem  to  worship,  as  God  had 
commanded,  but  will  have  them  to  worship  a  god  of 
gold  nearer  hand.     And  so  it  is  now  in  our  kirk,  give 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  77 


men  a  piece  of  ground  and  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
they  will  consent  to  any  religion,  either  Arminianism 
or  Popery.  Give  the  soldiers  Christ's  coat,  and 
they  seek  no  more,  they  will  shed  His  blood,  and 
take  away  His  life.  A  drink  of  Jacob's  well  is 
better  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  than  Christ,  the 
water  of  life,  or  heaven.  Her  heaven  is  in  the  ground^ 
of  Jacob's  well,  "  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with, 
and  the  well  is  deep;  from  whence  then  hast  thou 
that  living  water?"  (John  iv.  11.)  A  sow  is  better  to 
the  Gadarenes  than  Jesus  Christ.  Christ  has  lost 
courtf  in  men's  hearts,  He  is  worn  out  of  fashion  and 
request.  The  heaven  we  would  have  is  a  heaven  we 
would  see  with  our  eyes,  and  catch  with  our  hands. 
What  is  it,  I  pray  you,  that  keeps  the  first  rank  of 
people  from  heaven  ?  Not  a  kingdom  nor  a  broad 
inheritance,  that  would  seem  something ;  but  a  piece 
of  ground,  one  village,  a  little  room  that  keeps  only 
ten  oxen!  O,  Lord  God,  say  they,  if  Christ  could 
be  bought  for  money.  But  He  is  worth  much  money. 
It  is  a  dangerous  thing  once  to  let  the  world  into 
the  heart :  if  ye  be  in  love  w^ith,  and  wedded  to  the 
world,  then  bid  adieu  to  Christ.  The  world  is  like 
a  great  fire,  if  a  cold  man  stands  at  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance, it  warms  and  comforts  him ;  but  if  he  go  into 
the  midst  of  it,  it  burns  him.  Men  who  have  an 
indifferent  hold  of  the  world,  and  stand  at  a  proper 
distance  from  it,  are  benefited  thereby;  but  those 
who  cast  themselves  into  the  midst  of  it,  are  thereby 
swallowed  up,  and  for  ever  lost.  Oh !  but  poor 
worldlings  get  but  a  silly :|:  heaven.  In  Luke  xvi.  it  is 
described,  in  the  person  of  the  rich  glutton,  who  was 
clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fared  sumptu- 

■  The  bottom.        +  Favour.        %  Paltry. 


78  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


ously  every  day.  Is  that  their  heaven?  meat  and 
clothes  !  Indeed  it  is.  Servants  get  no  land,  that  is 
ordained  for  sons ;  but  they  get  a  present  hire,  and 
more  they  seek  not.  Poor  men,  they  get  five  yoke 
of  oxen,  and  a  little  farm.  God  knows  that  is  but 
a  pitiful  portion ! 

He  begins  again  here,  ^'I  have  bought  a  farm,  and  2 
must  needs  go  and  see  itJ^ — He  says  not,  I  must  needs 
use  it,  enjoy  it,  live  upon  it,  take  my  pleasure,  and 
dehght  in  it :  but  "  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it." 

Doctrine.  All  that  men  have  in  the  world  is 
indeed  but  a  sight.  Eccles.  v.  ii,  "When  goods 
increase,  they  are  increased  that  eat  them,  and  what 
good  is  there  to  the  owners  thereof,  save  the  beholding 
of  them  with  their  eyes?"  When  the  devil  would 
have  bargained  with  Christ,  He  let  Him  see  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  ;  but  more  he  could  not  do.  He 
could  not  put  Christ  in  the  peaceable  possession  of 
them.  All  the  gloiy  of  the  world  wins  never  into  the 
soul !  It  stands  at  the  door,  nay,  it  stands  at  these 
two  utmost  windows  of  the  soul :  before  the  two  eyes, 
and  comes  no  further.  Mark  the  fool's  words,  Luke 
xii.  19,  "Soul,  take  thine  ease,  thou  hast  much  goods 
laid  up  for  many  years."  Every  word  here  is  like  the 
fool  who  speaks  them.  Blind  liar,  they  are  not  laid  up 
for  the  soul;  for  all  his  full  barns  and  gold  could  never 
fill  the  soul.  The  poor  soul  did.  but  look  out  at  the 
two  windows — the  eyes — and  see  them.  Then,  I 
counsel  you,  since  you  must  go  to  the  market  and 
buy,  spend  not  your  money  on  a  sight;  buy  some- 
thing that  may  be  seen,  heard,  and  felt.  Buy  Jesus 
Christ ;  ye  may  see  Him,  hear  Him,  and  feel  Him ; 
rub  souls  with  Him,  and  enjoy  Him;  rest  upon  Him, 
and  make  your  moan  to  Him.     You  can  never  make 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  79 


the  world  your  own,  but  you  must  leave  all  at  the 
mouth  of  the  grave,  and  creep  in  like  a  naked  worm 
that  leaves  a  knot  of  lime  at  the  mouth  of  their  hole 
when  they  creep  into  the  earth.  But  you  may  take 
Christ  into  the  grave  with  you  !  ye  may  take  Him  up 
'  to  heaven  with  you  !  ye  may  take  Him  to  back  you, 
and  speak  for  you  in  the  last  day  of  judgment  ! 

^'  I  have  botight  a  piece  of  ground^  and  I  must  needs 
go  and  see  it.  I  have  bought  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  1 7nust 
go  and  try  theniJ' — But  these  fools  are  bad  merchants  ; 
the  first  should  have  seen  the  ground  before  he 
bought  it ;  the  last  should  have  tried  the  oxen  before 
he  bought  them.  They  first  buy,  and  then  try  ;  but 
Solomon's  virtuous  woman  (Proverbs  xxxi.  16),  first 
*'  considers  a  field,''  and  then  "  buys  it."  Thus  fools 
first  buy  their  land,  and  their  oxen,  and  then  go  to  see 
them.  . 

Doctrine,  The  foolish  worldlings  buy  the  world  / 
before  ever  they  take  a  good  sight  of  it.  The  devil 
is  a  deceitful  merchant;  he  would  not  give  Christ  a 
good  hearty  sight  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  before 
He  bought  it ;  he  showed  them  to  Him  in  a  short 
glance,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  Like  a  deceitful 
merchant  who  has  no  will  to  open  up  his  wares  that 
are  adulterate  before  the  sun.  For  the  devil  knows 
if  a  man  saw  the  world,  the  griefs,  the  miseries,  and 
the  wrath  of  God,  that  hang  over  such  as  give  them- 
selves up  to  the  love  of  the  world,  he  would  never 
come  speed.  But  the  devil's  bargains  are  blind 
bargains ;  he  sells  by  guess,  and  the  fools  of  the  world 
buy  by  guess  and  hearsays.  So,  indeed,  he  hides  the 
end.  O  that  men  would  look  to  the  inner  side  of 
ambition,  covetousness,  and  love  of  the  world,  they 
would  not  then  forget  Abner's  word  to  Joab,  2  Samuel 
ii.  26,  "  Will  it  not  be  bitterness  in  the  latter  end?'* 


3o  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 

The  devil  causes  us  to  buy  sin  before  we  see  our 
merchandise.  Judas  bought  an  ill  conscience  before 
he  saw  the  halter.  The  young  man  (Prov.  vn.  21-27) 
sees  the  strange  woman  before  he  sees  her  dwelhng- 
place,  which  is  the  entry  of  hell.  Foolish  souls  take  , 
on  the  debt  of  sin,  spend,  and  take  aye  on  more  till 
the  term  day  come,  and  then  God  puts  an  account 
into  their  hands,  that  they  must  read  and  plead  with 
watery  eyes. 

"  /  have  married  a   wife  and  I  therefore ^  cannot 
^^;;^^.''_The   third    person   in  the   world's   trinity   is 
inordinate  lust.     And  this,  indeed,  you   may  gather 
from  the  words,  is  the  mightiest  god  of  the  three : 
the  other  two  had  business  which  they  must  do,  but 
he   who   worships   the   third   god,    says,    "I    cannot 
come."     The   other   two,   in   a   pretended  humility, 
said,   "I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.''      The  third 
absolutely  said,  "  I  cannot  come,"  and  never  a  word 
of  "  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.'^     Then,"^  we  see 
pleasure  is  a  more  dangerous  temptation  than  either 
honour  or  profit.     Beware  then  of  the  love  of  plea- 
sure  and  inordinate    lust.      The   thing   that   makes 
men  hunt  after  honour  and  profit    is  pleasure,  self- 
love,  and  pleasing  of  themselves.      Men  seek  profit 
for   pleasure  ;    so   that  pleasure   is   the   devil's  coni- 
mon  bait,  that  he  puts  upon   all   his  hooks.      And 
even  in  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  to 
nature  itself  is  the  most  thorny  faced  sin,  yet  Satan 
puts  upon  it  the  face  of  pleasure.     For  in  a  sort  of 
hellish  pleasing  of  themselves,  they  spit  upon  the  face 
of  the  well  favoured  and  beautiful  Son  of  God.     And 
therefore  Solomon,  speaking  of  the  adulterous  woman, 
(Prov.  vii.)  uses  many  forcible  words,  expressing  the 

*  Therefore. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  8l 


power  of  this  temptation ;  she  led  the  young  man  as 
an  ox  to  the  slaughter,  until  a  dart  struck  through 
his  liver.  She  wounds  many,  she  slays  strong  men. 
And  if  ye  ask  where  pleasure  lodges?  the  same 
Solomon,  in  the  last  verse  of  that  chapter  will  tell 
you;  she  chambers  in  the  way  to  hell,  in  the  very 
mouth  of  the  grave,  the  throat  and  entry  of  hell; 
there  is  pleasure's  dwelling  house.  I  may  well  say 
pleasure  is  the  devil's  sportsman,  and  his  broker, 
who  sells  and  buys,  and  makes  the  price  for  him ; 
and  goes  through  the  world,  and  suits  souls  in  mar- 
riage to  him. 

This  should  teach  us  to  strive  for  mortification ;  for 
when  the  apostle  speaks  of  this  sin,  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  that  which  is  to  be  done  against  it  is,  that  it 
should  be  taken  to  the  cross  and  crucified.  The  eyes, 
the  ears,  and  heart  of  the  old  man  must  be  nailed  to 
Christ's  cross.  "We  shall  never  get  the  victory  over 
this  temptation  except  we  be  dead  men  to  the  world  ; 
and  the  nails  that  pierced  Christ  go  through  the 
heart,  soul,  and  body  of  the  man  of  sin.  Offer  to 
dead  men,  kingdoms,  jewels,  and  much  gold;  it 
were  but  a  ploughing  of  the  sand,  they  will  neither 
see  nor  hear  your  offer.  Mortified  Joseph  was  cru- 
cified to  the  lust  of  the  flesh;  says  he,  ''How  then  can 
I  do  this  great  wickedness  and  sin  against  God?" 
(Gen.  xxxix.  9).  He  being  a  dead  man  to  that  could 
not  get  it  done.  Blessed  are  they  who  are  weaned 
from  the  love  of  the  world.     In  the 

IV.  Part  of  the  parable,  the  servant  reports  his 
diligence,  and  it  works  some  effect  in  the  master  of 
the  house;  it  angers  him,  and,  as  Mathew  say^,  ''He 
went  out  and  destroyed  them,  and  burnt  up  their 
city." 

I.  The  Lord  takes  a   new   course,   and   will   not 


82  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


want  guests;  He  will  have  His  table  filled.  God^s 
Supper  will  not  be  lost  for  want  of  eaters.  God,  in 
the  beginning  of  this  parable,  was  as  a  man :  now  He 
is  turned  as  a  lion.  Mercy  is  His  first  offer.  Come  is 
His  first  word:  but  when  that  is  refused,  there  is 
nothing  for  those  but  burning  and  slaying.  Those 
men  need  not  blame  God  for  the  burning  of  their 
city,  for  that  is  not  a  stolen  dint,*  or  stroke.  We 
may  think  that  the  servant  said.  Dear  friends,  and 
loving  brethren,  come  and  sup  with  my  master;  he 
thinks t  long  for  you,  he  will  not  eat  till  you  come, 
he  loves  and  delights  in  your  company,  ye  will  be 
heartily  welcome  and  well  entertained.  No  doubt, 
although  the  servant  said  this,  yet  he  also  said :  If 
ye  refuse  to  come,  God's  wrath  will  come  on  you; 
ye  shall  never  taste  of  His  Supper,  and  ye  shall  seek 
Him,  but  ye  shall  not  find  Him. 

God  steals  not  a  dint,  or  decreet  against  such  as 
are  disobedient  to  the  gospel.  They  are  twice  or 
thrice  summoned,  and  the  penalty  of  non-compear- 
ance  set  down  in  the  Scriptures  before  ever  God  be 
angry.  The  gospel  is  now  crying  in  the  ears  of  the 
unthankful  world,  "  He  that  believeth  not  is  con- 
demned already."  He  that  refuses  to  come  in  at 
supper-time  shall  not  be  let  in  after  supper.  O  !  but 
the  gospel  makes  many  fair  offers  to  sinners.  The 
law  says,  "  Do  this  and  live ;  "  but  it  speaks  but  once 
of  life  :  for  men  having  once  sinned,  the  law  never 
speaks  another  word  of  life.  No,  though  you  should 
mourn  till  your  eyes  fall  out  of  your  head,  the  law 
cries,  *'  I  will  hear  of  no  repentance ;  but  away  to  hell 
immediately." 

But  the  second  covenant  says,  Jeremiah  iii.  12-14; 

*  A  blow  given  stealttiily*  t  Wearies  for. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  83 


Ezekiel  xviii.,  "  For  all  that  has  come  and  gone,  if  ye 
will  turn  and  repent,  sin  shall  not  be  your  ruin." 
Our  Second  Husband  says,  Welcome  to  Me,  although 
ye  have  played  the  harlot  with  many  lovers  (for  love 
is  soon  entreated),  yet  return  again  unto  Me,  any 
time  before  supper,  before  the  board  be  drawn.  But 
if  ye  let  the  day  of  the  gospel  slip,  and  refuse  Christ 
offered,  till  after  supper,  the  gospel  then  turns  into  a 
law,  and  will  hear  no  more  of  repentance.  And  why? 
Because  there  is  not  a  covenant  after  the  second 
covenant;  there  is  not  another  gospel  after  this  gospel; 
and  there  is  no  other  collation  after  the  King's  mar- 
riage-supper. No,  Christ  cannot  die  again :  death  and 
He  will  never  meet  again;  the  devil  will  never  get 
another  yoking'"  with  Him  upon  the  cross. 

I  will  give  it  to  you  in  a  comparison.  Our 
heavenly  inheritance  was  forfeit  in  Adam,  and  by 
our  ovm.  voluntary  transgression  of  the  law ;  but  in 
comes  Jesus,  our  elder  brother,  and  makes  a  charter, 
wherein  He  serves  Himself  nearest  and  lawful  heir 
to  the  inheritance ;  whereby  He  loses  the  mortgage, 
redeems  and  makes  all  free,  and  puts  us  in  our  place 
again.  But  with  this  clause  in  the  end  of  the  charter, 
That  if  we  shall  sell  the  land  again,  and  make  a  new 
mortgagement,  and  subscribe  not  the  second  covenant, 
by  embracing  the  gospel,  and  coming  precisely  at 
supper-time, — that  is,  in  the  day  of  the  gospel  (while 
the  word  speaks  to  us,  and  the  sacraments  offer 
Christ  as  the  body  of  the  new  charter  to  us) :  it  shall 
serve  only  for  as  much  blank  paper.  For  Christ  will 
not  die  the  second  time;  but  "the  wrath  of  God 
abides  on  you,  and  ye  are  condemned  already.''  And, 
of  all  condemnations  of  ungodly  men,  this  shall  be  the 

*  Assault  upon. 


84  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


greatest,  even  that  of  those  who  hear  the  gospel  and 
obey  it  not.  For  the  charter  is  offered  them  to 
subscribe,  and  they  refuse  to  put  to  their  hands.  It 
shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Turks,  who  never  heard  tell 
of  that  covenant.  Then  beware,  ye  who  have  been  at 
the  Lord's  table,  that  ye  start  and  meet  Christ  pre- 
cisely at  supper-time :  for  ye  need  not  trouble  yourself 
to  seek  Him  in  the  night.  Then,  see  to  it,  for  if  any- 
thing be  doom  in  Scotland  in  the  day  of  God's  account, 
this  will  be  it,  ''  I  waited  ]\Iy  supper  on  you  till  the 
meat  was  like  to  be  lost,  and  IMy  blood  became  cold, 
but  your  pride  kept  you  back  till  the  board  was  drawn : 
now  ye  shall  not  taste  of  My  supper,  and  well  ye 
deserve  such  disappointment. '^  All  the  quarrel  with  us 
will  be,  we  would  not  agree  with  Him.     The 

2.  Eifect  that  the  servant's  message  makes  on  the 
goodman  of  the  house  is.  He  commands  His  servants 
to  go  out  to  the  high-ways  and  hedges,  and  bring  in 
**the  poor,  the  blind,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  and  the 
lame."  So  although  all  the  world  should  refuse 
mercy,  God  can  make  a  kirk  to  Himself  of  the  very 
stones  of  the  field.  When  the  Jews  will  not  come  to 
the  Lord's  Supper,  He  can  fill  the  table  with  Gentiles; 
and  those  that  are  not  a  people,  such  are  made  a 
people ;  those  that  have  not  obtained  mercy  do  obtain 
mercy.  Ye  see  the  Lord  holds  up  the  door  of  the 
house  long  :  He  closes  the  door  on  no  man.  He 
keeps  a  great  open  house  both  to  poor  and  rich ;  and 
indeed  the  poor,  the  blind,  and  the  halt,  will  be  at 
the  board-head,"^  when  the  children  of  the  kingdom 
shall  be  shut  out,  and  put  to  the  door.  Here,  in 
effect,  is  a  description  of  God's  kingdom.  They  are 
poor  ones,  and  have  no  riches  of  their  own;  but  Jesus 

*  Head  of  the  tabic. 

r 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  85 


gives  them  fine  gold.  They  have  not  a  leg  to  go 
upon;  are  halt,  &:c.,  but  the  Lord  Jesus  bears  them 
up.  They  have  not  a  hand  to  hold  Christ ;  but  what 
then?  Christ  takes  fast  hold  of  them.  They  have  not 
an  eye  in  their  head;  but  what  then?  Jesus  Christ 
leads  them.  Now,  that  is  true  which  Jesus  saith; 
he  justifies  the  fact  (Luke  xix.  10)  in  going  to  Zaccheus ; 
**He  came  to  seek  and  save  that  which  was  lost.'' 
Multitudes  of  miscarried  Christians  cry,  Alas  !  I  am  a 
sinner,  and  can  have  no  part  in  Christ !  Fool,  if 
thou  be  a  sinner,  thou  art  the  man  or  woman  whom 
he  is  seeking.  I  pray  thee,  What  is  heaven?  No- 
thing but  a  company  of  broken-hearted  sinners ;  and 
there  is  none  of  all  the  sons  of  Adam,  who  stand 
before  the  throne  and  the  Lamb,  but  their  faces  were 
once  blotted.  Although  they  be  now  kings,  they 
were  once  slaves;  there  is  none  born  noblemen  in 
heaven.  O !  this  is  a  great  comfort  to  the  sons  of 
Adam,  that  those  who  are  most  base  in  their  own 
eyes  are  greatest  in  God's  eyes.  His  calling  runs 
upon  babes,  and  passes  by  wise  men  (Matt.  xi.  25).  His 
call  runs  upon  publicans  and  sinners,  and  passes  by 
the  self-righteous  (Luke  xvi.),  and  upon  whores  and 
harlots,  and  passes  by  the  children  of  the  kingdom : 
upon  the  base  and  off-scourings  of  the  earth,  and 
passes  by  the  disputer  of  this  world.  Then,  although 
it  be  ill  to  be  a  sinner,  yet  it  is  a  glorious  thing  to  be 
one  of  God's  sinners,  whom  the  Lord  will  call.  As 
for  the  wicked  and  sinners  indeed,  they  are  Satan's 
sinners  and  their  own  sinners;  Christ  came  not  to 
seek  them  as  His  sinners.  Now,  What  are  those 
sinners  in  the  streets  and  high-ways?  Answer, 
When  the  Lord  calls  on  us.  He  finds  us  not  in  our 
house,  or  under  the  shadow  of  God  Almighty,  but 
in  the  streets,  without  any  shelter  against  the  storm ; 


86  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


or  in  the  fields,  like  Judah  (Jer.  ii.  23,  24),  who  is 
compared  to  "  a  swift  dromedary  traversing  her  ways." 
"A  wild  ass  used  to  the  Avilderness,  snuffeth  up  the 
wind  at  her  pleasure."  We  are  "  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins — and  without  God  in  the  world  "  (Eph.  ii.  t, 
12).  "  We  are  cast  out  in  the  open  field,  dying  in  our 
own  blood,  and  no  eye  to  pity  us"  (Ezek.  xvi.)  Now, 
those  who  are  beggars  in  the  streets,  who  never  dream 
that  the  king  will  send  for  them,  may  make  the  invita- 
tion welcome  when  it  comes.  And  woe  be  to  them 
who  think  we  lay  money  upon  heaven,  and  mortgage 
grace,  if  not  to  buy  it  at  full  price ;  for  when  Christ 
comes  to  us,  we  can  see  as**  much  as  blind  men, catch  as 
much  as  maimed  men,  and  run  as  swift  as  halting  men. 
^'  And  the  servant  said,  It  is  done,  Lord,  as  thou  hast 
cofnmanded,  a7id  yet  there  is  room,^^ — There  is  here 
never  a  word  of  buying  of  land,  trying  of  oxen,  and 
marrying  of  wives,  but  immediate  obedience ;  at  the 
first  word  they  come  to  the  King's  Supper.  We  see 
that  where  God's  Spirit  accompanies  the  word,  the 
invited  cannot  but  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  In 
the  next  verse,  he  gives  direction  to  his  servant  to 
compel  them  to  come  in ;  wherein,  ye  see,  there  is 
a  sort  of  divine  violence  used  in  the  efi*ectual  calling 
of  God's  children.  What  a  long  dispute  is  there 
between  Him  and  the  woman  of  Samaria.  She  gives 
the  Lord  two  or  three  taunts,  yet  He  will  not  want 
her  nor  leave  her,  till  He  say  to  her  soul,  "  I  that 
speak  unto  thee  am  He."  And  as  Isaac  said  to  Esau, 
*^I  have  blessed  him,  and  he  shall  be  blessed;"  so 
may  the  Lord  say  to  this  poor  land,  Blind,  lame,  halt, 
and  maimed,  I  have  called  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be 
Mine ;  I  have  taken  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  taken. 

No  more  than. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  87 


Christ  will  lay  many  oars  in  the  water  before  He 
want  His  own  :  yea,  although  one  of  the  elect  should 
run  to  hell,  yet  He  will  follow  them.  And  O  !  but 
Christ  be  swift  in  following  those  whom  He  hath 
chosen.  The  way  to  heaven  is  an  unknown  way 
to  sinners;  but  behold  the  Lord  teaches  them 
(Psalm  XXV.  9).  And  when  they  are  taught,  they  dare 
not  go  alone,  because  of  the  enemies  in  the  way. 
Then  that  same  Psalm  says,  verse  8,  '^  The  Lord  leads 
sinners  in  the  way."  Ay,  but  sinners  will  not  be  led, 
because  they  do  not  like  the  way  well  :  then  ye  shall 
find  the  Father  and  the  son  drawing  and  compelling 
them,  Cant.  i.  2  ;  John  vi.  44.  And  if  drawing  will  not 
do  the  turn,  ye  shall  find  bearing  and  carrying  in  the 
Lord's  bosom  (Isa.  xl.  11)  and  upon  His  shoulders 
(Luke  XV.  5),  and  upon  His  heart  (Cant.  viii.  6). 

What  is  the  reason  that  Jesus  will  not  want  any  of 
His  own  ?     I  answer  :  There  be  three  causes  of  this  : 

I.  That  day  that  the  Lord  Jesus  died  for  the  elect. 
He  bought  them  with  His  heart's  blood ;  with  His  soul 
he  prized  'them,  and  thought  them  worthy  of  His  life. 
Now,  the  Lord  Jesus  is  God  unchangeable  :  ye  must 
not  think  that  God  buys  any  of  the  elect  with  His 
blood,  and  then  begins  to  repent  of  the  bargain. 
2.  Jesus  is  Almighty.  Having  once  comprized  * 
the  elect  as  His  own,  who  can  free  comprizement  ? 
Christ  has  law  on  His  side,  and  power  to  execute  the 
law;  then  He  cannot  want  His  own.  3.  The  Father 
has  given  the  elect  to  the  Son,  and  He  must  render  an 
account  of  them  to  the  Father,  man  by  man. 

The  last  thing  to  be  considered  is,  the  Lord's 
sentence  against  the  recusants — "  None  of  those  men 
who  were  bidden  shall  take  of  my  Snpper,^^ — This  is  a 

Laid  hold  of. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


hard  word ;  for  in  effect  it  is,  They  shall  never  have 
part  in  my  Christ,  shall  never  see  my  face.  So  now 
those  men  know  not  what  God  is  doing,  they  are  home 
at  their  farm,  their  oxen,  and  their  new  married  wife, 
thinking  no  such  thing,  when  God  is  concluding  a 
black  process  against  them.  Eli  knew  little  what  the 
Lord  was  Hoing,  when  He  was  leading  a  black  process 
against  Him  and  His  house  (i  Sam.  iii.  14).  And 
Ahab  knows  little  what  God  is  doing,  when  He  is 
going  do^\Tl  to  take  possession  of  Naboth's  vineyard, 
when  the  Lord,  in  the  upper  court,  is  giving  out  a 
doleful  decreet  against  him.  Elihu  says  of  the  wicked, 
''They  cry  not  when  He  (God)  bindeth  them"  (Job 
xxxvi..  13).  We  may  be  laughing,  sporting,  and 
making  merry  upon  earth,  while  there  is  a  black 
process  going  on  against  us  in  heaven.  The  destroy- 
ing angel  has  gotten  a  commission  to  go  forth  and 
destroy :  happy  are  they  who  can  see  how  their  process 
goes  forward  in  heaven.  Ye  should  see  and  try  how 
it  goes  betwixt  God  and  your  souls.  I  pray  you, 
beloved,  when  ye  are  toiling  at  your  farms,  trafficking, 
or  sporting,  be  asking  at  God,  Lord,  how  shall  it  go 
with  me  at  the  last  judgment  ?  If  ye  ask  at  me,  How 
shall  we  know  that,  for  that  is  a  secret  ?  Indeed,  ye 
must  go  to  my  Lord  Secretary,  Jesus  Christ,  and  pray 
Him  to  tell  you,  and  write  from  heaven  to  you  how 
your  case  thrives.  Say,  Lord  Jesus,  Is  there  any  hope 
of  my  action  ?  Many  who  are  careful  of  their  estate 
on  earth,  are  often  at  their  advocate ;  they  pray  him, 
they  write,  and  send  friends  to  him.  Why  then  should 
ye  not  do  the  same  with  Christ  ?     Amen. 


SERMON        V.''^* 

Where fote^  seeing  zue  also  are  compassed  about  tvith  so  great  a 
cloud  of  witnesses^  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sm 
which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us,  cr-v. — Heb.  xii.  I,  2,  3,  4,  5* 

BELOVED  in  Christ,  here  there  is,  i.  A  conclu- 
sion drawn  from  the  doctrine  of  the  former 
chapter,  " Let  us  run  our  race''  2.  A  reason.  Many 
have  gone  before  us,  a  whole  cloud;  it  is  a  fair 
market-gate,  a  high  street  to  heaven.  3.  The  way 
how  we  may  come  good  speed  in  our  race,  get  the 
gold,  and  w^in  the  bell,  is  set  down  in  two  things,  viz.  : 

I.  What  we  must  quit  for  the  gold.  a.  All  weights 
and  clogs  of  this  clay  world  that  retard  us  in  our 
journey,  and  make  our  race  toilsome.  b.  Sin  that 
hangs  fast  upon  us,  and  beguiles  us. 

II.  What  shall  we  do?  What  rule  shall  we  follow? 
W^hat  airth  shall  we  look  to  ? 

The  Apostle  says.  Know  ye  not  how  they  look  who 
run  a  race  ?  They  look  not  over  their  shoulder,  but 
ever  straight  before  them,  towards  the  end  of  their 
race.  Look  ye  to  Jesus  in  the  end  of  your  way. 
Now,  the  Apostle  seems  to  go  a  little  off  the  text : 
he  sees  a  friend,  even  Jesus,  and  he  cannot  pass  by 

*  Preached  at  a  Preparation  for  the  Communion,  at  Kirkcud- 
bright, in  the  year  1634. 


90 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Him,  but  must  speak  a  word  of  Him.     In  your  race 
I  shall  let  you  see  two  things  in  Jesus. 

1.  Efficacy  and  power.  He  is  the  captain  and 
leader  of  your  souls  in  the  course  of  faith,  and  He 
will  not  tire :  when  He  begins.  He  will  also  crown 
and  perfect  your  faith. 

2.  I  will  let  you  see  another  thing  in  Jesus  :  A 
good  example.  How  wan  He  ?  His  heart  longed  to 
be  at  the  gold,  as  yours  should  do.  He  saw  the  glory 
in  the  end  of  His  way.  He  suffered  both  pain  and 
shame,  and  so  was  seen  on  it :  and  He  is  now  set 
down  on  the  throne  of  God.  Now  then,  the  Apostle, 
still  dwelling  on  Christ  (for  he  cannot  win  off  Him) 
gives  them  a  new  exhortation  to  hold  on ;  in  which 
there  is  included  the  following  things  : — 

I.  Consider  what  that  lovely  person  suffered  of  all 
men — how  they  gave  Him  the  lie,  and  spake  against 
Him.  2.  Consider  how  little  ye  have  suffered ;  ye 
have  not  yet  resisted,  and  striven  unto  blood,  as 
Christ  did.  3.  He  gives  a  reason  why  they  should 
do  so ;  for  fear  they  give  over,  faint,  and  fall  a  swoon. 
Having  in  chapter  xi.  spoken  of  the  fathers  who  wan 
to  heaven,  through  patient  suffering,  he  compares 
them  (v.  I.)  to  the  cloud  that  led  the  Israelites,  by 
day,  through  the  wilderness.  He  sets  the  example 
of  those  before  them  to  encourage  them. 

We  see  the  way  to  heaven  is  now  a  high  market 
gate,  and  paved  by  hundreds  and  thousands  who 
have  gone  before  us;  and  we  should  follow  after. 
Are  ye  wanting  a  settled  house  and  dwelling  in  the 
world?  Then  set  forward,  look  for  a  city  above. 
Indeed,  says  Abraham,  I  shall  be  witness  of  that,  that 
ye  shall  receive  the  recompense  of  reward.  Will  ye 
rather  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season?     Moses  says, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  91 


I  shall  be  witness  then,  that  ye  shall  win  home  safe 
and  sound.  In  the  way  ye  may  see  a  whole  cloud  of 
them  as  witnesses  to  lead  you  through  the  wilderness. 
Where  away*  can  ye  go,  or  what  can  befal  you  in 
your  journey  to  glory,  but  in  which  the  Lord's  saints 
have  gone  before  you?  Are  ye  your  alone, t  and 
seeking  God  amongst  many  who  live  as  they  list? 
So  was  Noah,  a  walker  with  God,  when  all  flesh 
had  corrupted  their  ways.  Let  it  be  true  ye  have 
all  taken  from  you  goods,  children,  and  health.  So 
was  Job  handled  !  So  the  saints  have  set  up  steps, 
and  way-marks,  at  every  turn  in  your  way ;  and  cry. 
Ride  about.  And  howbeit  now,  many  fools  think 
to  win  through  at  the  nearest,  yet  they  win  not,  but 
stick  there.  The  saints'  going  before,  in  the  way, 
is  a  great  benefit  to  us ;  their  falls,  and  the  ill  steps 
that  cumbered  them,  ye  must  beware  of.  Ye  must 
hold  off  adultery,  for  David  stuck  in  that  mire.  Hold 
off  drunkenness,  for  Noah  and  Lot  wet  their  feet  in 
that  dub.  Beware  of  mocking  and  persecuting  the 
saints,  for  Paul's  ship  had  almost  sunk  in  that  quick- 
sand. See  these  dead  carcases  lying  on  the  road  : 
Judas,  Demas,  Hymeneus,  and  Philetus,  brake  their 
necks,  by  attempting  to  go  to  Canaan  and  falling 
off  again. 

Make  this  use  of  holy  men's  lives,  here  con- 
demned, who  followed  the  devil,  but  were  re- 
covered again.  Beware  of  those  temptations  and 
sins  which  so  easily  beset  them.  Here  is  a  cloud 
of  witnesses;  the  world  and  the  fashions  thereof, 
they  did  not  follow.  (Rom.  xii.  2)  "Be  not  conformed 
to  this  world,"  and  the  guises |  thereof;  and  yet 
ye  can  justify  yourselves  in  the  daily  transgression 

*  To  what  country.  +  Solitary.  %  Fashions. 


g  2  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


of  this  divine  prohibition.  Wherefore  is  vanity  m 
marriages  and  banquets?  "It  is  the  fashion,"  say 
they.  Proud  Scotland  !  poor  Scotland  !  near  cut  out 
to  thy  skin;  it  is  worm-eaten.  Wherefore  is  such 
vanity  in  apparel?  so  that  women  are  become  m- 
decent,  and  men  like  monsters.  Men  are  takmg 
whole  baronies  of  land  on  their  backs?  "It's  the 
fashion,"  say  they.  O!  proud  and  poor  Scotland; 
men  are  cut  out  to  their  skin,  and  women  want  not 
vanity  enough;  but  are  not  cut  to  the  bone.  And 
wherefore  comes  swearing,  and  drinking,  see  ye  not? 
No  otherAvise  than  from  the  fashion.  "It  is  the 
fashion,"  say  they :  but  if  ye  will  follow  such  a  cloud 
of  fashionable  witnesses,  let  me  conclude  ye  wiU  go 
to  hell  also  ;  for  I  can  assure  you  that  is  the  fashion. 
Ye  may  keep  that  excuse  till  the  day  of  judgment ; 
and  when  God  asks  what  ye  have  done,  and  wherefore 
ye  did  so;  say  ye,  "Lord,  for  nothing  but  the 
fashion,"  and  see  how  ye  will  win  off. 

" Let  us  run  the  race.''— But  how  shall  we  run?  So 
run  that  ye  may  obtain.  Many  run  upon  hope  of 
heaven,  and  get  hell  in  the  end.  But  hear  what  the 
Spirit  of  God  says.  Lay  aside  every  weight;  every 
clog.  What  is  the  weight?  The  world,  the  love 
of  riches,  honour,  and  lusts.  He  speaks  to  us  as 
to  men  having  their  back  burden  of  clay,  or  clogged 
with  heavy  lumps  of  earth,  and  great  tatters  and 
bunches  of  the  world's  glory.  Nay,  a  number  of 
devils,  pride,  lust,  and  covetousness,  hang  upon  us. 
Give  them  a  shake,  says  he ;  down  with  them.  Let 
the  ground  bear  all. 

How  hardly  do  cunning*-  men  enter  into  the  king- 


*  Clever. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


93 


dom  of  heaven  !     Methinks  I  see  three  sorts  of  men 
beguiled  in  their  race  to  glory. 

1.  Some  go  not  a  step  at  all  in  the  way  to  heaven  ; 
for,  going  too  near  the  hedge,  they  get  a  thorn  in 
their  foot,  which  swells  it  so  that  they  must  sit  down, 
and  lay  it  on  their  knee  :  and  they  sit  there,  and 
never  make  any  further  attempt  towards  heaven,  till 
night  come,  and  there  they  lie.  One  of  those  says 
(Job  xxi.  15),  "What  is  the  Almighty,  that  we  should 
serve  Him?  and  what  profit  should  we  have,  if  we  pray 
unto  Him?''  They  say  in  plain  terms,  God  is  but  a 
poor  Master  to  follow;  it's  long  ere  he  be  rich  who 
follows  Him;  therefore  w^e  will  have  none  of  Him. 
Luke  xiv.  19,  ^^One  said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  I  go  to  prove  them,  I  pray  thee  have  me 
excused,"  &c.  "  And  the  Pharisees  who  heard  these 
things  mocked  at  Him." 

2.  Another  sort  run  a  start  after  Christ  for  a  time, 
as  Judas,  who  in  men's  eyes  followed  him,  till  the 
devil  meets  him  in  the  race,  casts  down  a  purse,  and 
breaks  his  leg ;  and  syne  went  he  over  the  brae.  In 
John  vi.  ye  see  a  number  following  Christ  for  the 
loaves.  And  Demas  galloped  awhile  after  Paul  and 
the  gospel,  but  he  thought  it  a  hungry  trade;  and 
the  world  crossed  his  road,  and  after  it  he  went.  I 
say.  The  world,  like  a  fair  strumpet  in  her  silks  and 
velvets,  came  in  his  way,  and  gave  him  a  kiss,  and  he 
ran  to  the  gate,"^  saying.  Sorrow  have  my  part  of  the 
gospel  and  Paul,  any  more  !  So  Paul  says  (2  Tim. 
iv.  10),  "Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  and  has  embraced 
this  present  world."     But 

3.  Another  sort  are  those  who  have  some  more 
love  to  the  race,  and  yet  they  cannot  want  the  world. 

*  The  road. 


94 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Like  the  young  man  (Matt.  xix.  21,  22)  who  came 
to  Christ  and  said,  he  had  kept  the  commandments 
from  his  youth;  when  Christ  bade  him  sell  all  that 
he  had,  and  give  his  goods  to  the  poor,  and  come 
and  follow  Him,  he  went  away  with  his  heart  in  his 
hose,  looking  as  if  his  nose  were  bleeding,  for  he  had 
great  possessions.  So  there  are  a  number  who  would 
climb  up  the  mountain  to  heaven,  with  thousands  by 
the  year,  and  with  baronies,  and  a  great  bunch  of 
clay,  bound  hard  and  fast  upon  the  neck  of  their 
souls :  and  they  think  to  hold  foot  with  Christ,  ride 
as  hard  as  He  pleases,  and  twenty  stone  weight  of 
clay  upon  their  soul !  But  they  will  be  all  mistaken ; 
they  will  burst  and  die  by  the  way ;  and  shall  never 
win  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  Ask  at  them  how  they 
will  win  up  to  heaven,  with  their  lusts  upon  their 
backs ;  they  will  say,  "  God  will  draw  us.  He  will 
help  and  bear  us."  Indeed  God  makes  His  own 
people  ride  in  chariots  with  Himself,  and  draws  them 
(Cant.  i.  2).  But  will  ye  make  Christ  a  pack-horse 
to  carry  your  clay,  and  your  lusts?  How  long  is  it 
since  He  has  carried  our  pack-mantle  !  Believe  me, 
he  is  no  cadger-horse.  Demas  and  Judas,  and  the 
like,  would  have  ridden  after  Christ,  with  all  their 
bags  of  clay ;  but  ken  ye  what  Christ  did  with  them  ? 
He  threw  them  and  their  clay  off  at  the  broadside, 
and  left  them  lying  there,  and  posted  away. 

Qiiestio7i.  What  then  shall  we  do  to  be  quit  of 
these  weights  ?     In  answer, 

I.  Direction.  The  world  is  a  foul  way,  like  deep- 
watery  new-tilled  ground,  where  pound  weights  hang 
to  every  heel  of  the  traveller,  and  retard  him ;  and  as 
he  shakes  off  one,  another  comes  on,  so  that  he  can- 
not go  fast  on  his  way.  Now  the  affections  are  the 
feet  of  the  soul;  take  heed  to  your  feet,  and  come 


COMMUXIOX  SERMONS. 


95 


off  the  deep-wet  land.  Use  the  world  as  if  ye  used 
it  not.  There  is  a  dry  way  to  heaven ;  hold  ye  off 
the  deep  way,  and  be  content  with  food  and  raiment. 
Go  ye  the  way  that  Christ  and  the  saints  went  before 
you ;  who  scarce  ever  wet  their  feet.  Indeed  Jesus 
was  never  wet-shod  in  the  world;  He  had  so  good 
mind  of  His  errand,  and  His  home,  that  the  world 
got  no  room  in  His  heart.  They  who  will  not  keep 
this  clean  dry  causeway,  it  is  no  marvel  to  see  them 
stick  in  the  miry  world,  be  drowned,  and  never  \vin 
home.  It  is  with  many,  as  was  said  (Hos.  ii.  2), 
Their  adulteries  lie  between  their  breasts ;  the  world 
in  a  great  bunch  lies  betwixt  their  breasts  all  night. 
Is  it  any  wonder  to  see  such  heavy-headed  mardels,'^ 
get  the  mellf  in  this  race?  like  stiff  horses,  unmeet 
for  a  journey.  And  how  can  they  once  give  a  trot? 
Nay,  they  but  walk  in  a  circle.     The 

2.  Direction.  Satan  and  the  world  will  play  you 
foul  play,  and  cast  their  feet  before  you,  and  give  you 
a  fall.  But  care  not  for  that,  rise  again.  But,  I  pray 
you,  beware  of  sore  falls,  or  sins  against  the  conscience, 
light,  and  love.  For  the  conscience  is  like  an  earthen 
vessel  if  ye  break  it,  ye  will  not  mend  it  again.  Some, 
in  their  race,  give  their  conscience  such  a  backstroke, 
that  they  break  their  legs,  and  are  never  meet  for  the 
race  again.  But,  whatever  ye  do,  keep  the  conscience 
whole. 

3.  Directio7i.  Cast  off  all  things  that  make  you 
heavy  :  make  yourself  light,  that  ye  may  be  nimble, 
skip,  and  spur  away.  Run,  run,  look  not  behind  you, 
remember  Lot's  wife.     Although  ye  should  be  like  to 


*  Unwieldy  lumps ;  either  from  the  French  for  a  kerb-stone, 
or  from  the  GaeHc,  '^mairdih" 
t  Maul;  not  the  prize. 


ge  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


burst,  tarry  not.  Ye  will  mend  of  a  sweat,  and  a  heat. 
God  has  a  napkin  to  rub  the  sweat  of  you,  and  He  has 
a  chair  and  a  cushion  for  you,  against  the  race  be 
ended,  and  He  will  lay  your  head  in  His  bosom.  Take 
a  little  pains  in  the  day,  for  I  promise  you,  ye  shall 
get  rest  at  even. 

"  Cast  off  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  tis  f  or  goes 
round  about  7is, — This  is  the  body  of  sin  that  re- 
mains in  our  nature;  he  speaks  of  it,  as  if  one  had 
us  clasped  in  his  arms.  For  original  sin  has  us 
in  fetters  as  captives;  it  is  a  thing  we  cannot  win 
from,  go  where  we  please.  It  is  like  a  ghost,  ever 
in  our  eye  :  behind  us,  pulling  us  back ;  before  us, 
standing  in  our  way;  at  our  right  hand,  hindering 
us  to  hear,  pray,  believe,  repent,  hope.  It  is  like  the 
wind  in  our  face,  or  in  the  face  of  a  weak  traveller, 
that  blows  him  some  steps  back,  where  he  goes  one 
forward.  It  is  as  a  man  going  round  about  us.  It  is 
in  the  mind,  darkening  the  judgment ;  in  the  will, 
thrawing  it  in  the  contrary  way.  God  bids  us  walk  in 
the  lowest  room,  down  in  the  affections :  but  we  do 
the  contrary.  And  this  sin,  as  weedbind  goes  about 
a  tree,  wraps  about  us  in  every  good  way.  It  is  a  ser- 
pent biting  our  heel,  and  cries,  A  lion  in  the  way. 
When  God  draws,  sin  holds  under,  at  meat,  drink,  and 
sleep.  It  is  a  joker;*  it  promises  us  much,  but  gives 
us  the  wind,  and  yet  we  beHeve  it. 

But  here  a  question  may  be  asked.  How  does  the 
Apostle  bid  us  shake  off  this  sin,  which  dwells  in  us  so 
long  as  we  live  ?  it  is  death  and  the  kirkyard  that  makes 
us  quit  of  this  sin  :  How  is  it  then  that  we  can  shake 
it  off? 

Answer  first.     The  dominion   of  it  we  break  by 

*  A  mocker. 


COMMUXIOS  SERMONS. 


97 


grace.  Every  woe  heart  *  we  have,  for  this  indwelling 
sin,  breaks  a  bone  of  old  Adam,  gives  his  back  a  crack, 
and  makes  him  cry.  As  we  repent,  and  advance  in 
holiness,  we  break  a  leg,  or  an  arm  of  this  sin  ;  but  for 
the  root  of  it,  God  only,  in  death,  can  pluck  it  out. 
Yet  we  must  be  hacking,  and  cutting  the  branches,  and 
roots  of  it,  else  we  cannot  make  progress  in  our  race. 
We  must  not  take  this  defiling  sin  forward  with  us  in 
our  race.  AVe  must  leave  it  when  we  start,  and  deliver  I 
it  over  to  Christ,  that  He  may  put  it  on  His  cross,  and  / 
nail  it  to  His  gallows. 

Answer  second.  He  speaks  of  sin,  as  of  a  thing 
going  about  us,  like  a  stone  wall,  in  our  very  way  to 
heaven.  Till,  by  regeneration,  Christ  make  a  gap  in  the 
wall,  that  we  may  pass  over,  there  is  no  possibility  of 
going  one  foot.  And  even  when  the  wall  is  broken,  we 
shall  see  this  sin  hanging  on  our  legs  and  arms.  This 
sin  keeps  a  lodge  by  the  gate  for  Satan,  and  is  a  common 
robber,  who  slays  many  by  the  way.  i.  Some  it  tricks 
out  of  the  way,  and  lays  asleep  in  security;  like  a 
drunken  traveller,  who  sleeps  in  a  moor,  till  the  sun 
be  down,  then  he  awakes  from  his  sleep  and  cries. 
2.  It  blinds  some,  as  Paul,  while  a  Pharisee,  and 
Papists,  and  chases  them  a  wrong  way  (to  hell  instead 
of  heaven),  when  they  make  a  fashion  of  repentance 
to  slay  their  sins;  and  go  again  to  their  old  pass. 
Such  are  those  who,  with  willingness,  walk  softly,  and 
go  to  sin  again.  Now,  he  sets  down  the  exhortation, 
"  Let  us  run  the  race."  This  is  more  than  to  walk 
and  step  at  our  own  leisure.  Running  shews  there 
is  a  set  time,  which  will  go  away,  a  short  day ;  and 
that  the  way  is  long,  and  we  have  much  to  do  to  get 
sin  slain.     And  therefore,  we  must  to  the  way  with 

■  Every  sore  heart. 
G 


98  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


speed,  and  run  fast.  In  Matt.  xi.  12,  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  said  to  be  taken  with  violence.  Luke 
xiii.  24,  "  Strive  to  enter  in."  The  word  is,  fight  and 
throng  in  by  force.  When  God  by  faith  lets  a  man 
see  heaven,  he  resolves  that  in  he  must  be,  come 
what  will.  Phil.  iii.  13,  14,  '^Reaching  forth  unto 
those  things  that  are  before,  I  press  forward  toward 
the  mark."  The  word  is,  *'I  follow  after,"  I  reach 
out  my  hand.  The  apostle  means  he  ran  that  so 
his  head  and  breast  pressed  forward  before  his  feet, 
and  his  two  arms  reached  out  to  catch  hold  of 
Christ.  To  speak  so,  he  chases  Christ  and  heaven, 
and  they  seem  to  flee  from  him,  and  he  follows  : 
so  should  we  do.  Then  chase  on ;  the  prize  seems 
to  flee  from  us ;  but  it  cannot  flee  further  than  to 
heaven^s  gates,  there  we  will  get  a  hold  of  it. 

But  how  will  they  do  who  say,  "  Hooly*  and  fair 
comes  home  against  even?"  And  what  needs  all 
this  din  ;  all  these  prayers,  and  these  flockings  to 
communions?  I  hope  to  be  in  heaven  as  soon  as 
the  best  of  you.  Answer,  Beguile  not  yourselves, 
Loiterers,  and  drowsy  persons,  who  go  not  one  mile 
of  twenty  in  a  year ;  such  as  walk  in  a  circle  round 
about  from  pride,  to  lust ;  from  lust  to  drunkenness ; 
from  that  to  covetousness ;  and  from  that  to  pride 
again;  like  as  if  they  were  in  a  fairies'  dance,  and 
run  not  at  all.  Can  men  come  to  heaven  lying  on 
their  back?  "The  good  lucky  old  religion  made 
a  sonsy  world,"  say  they.  Yes,  they  use  religion 
like  a  post-horse ;  as  one  wears  out  of  fashion,  they 
take  another. 

Heaven  must  be  taken  by  violence.  He  speaks 
of  heaven  as  of  a  fortified  place,  that  must  be  forced 

Cautious  and  soft. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  99 


by  fire  and  sword,  ere  they  render  it  up.  We  are 
like  drunken  travellers,  cast  twenty  miles  behind ; 
sometimes  with  lust,  and  sometimes  with  pride;  and 
such  companions  cannot  be  put  to  the  gate.  They 
have  a  friend  to  Satan's  messengers  within;  and 
when  they  knock,  he  cries.  Coming,  Master.  Men 
have  gotten  a  gate  of  their  own  (''like  neighbour" 
— another,  "  the  good  old  use  and  w^ont,")  to  walk  as 
they  please;  and  they  are  no  gluttons  of  religion, 
neither  of  the  word,  nor  communions.  Religion,  to 
them,  is  a  good  custom  of  going  to  the  kirk. 

"  The  race  set  before  us'' — This  race  is,  by  our  Lord, 
set  before  us  in  His  word;  for  men  set  the  way  to 
hell  before  themselves.  God's  word  sets  hell  before 
no  man  as  a  way  that  He  allows  of.  He  sets  not 
that  before  us,  but  behind  our  back.  But  men  turn 
their  face  to  hell,  and  not  to  heaven.  Know,  there- 
fore, that  this  is  a  race  of  God's  choosing,  and  not  of 
our  own;  and  the  ill  roads,  the  deep  waters,  the 
sharp  showers,  and  the  bitter,  violent  winds  that 
are  in  our  face,  are  of  God's  disposing.  We  wall  not 
get  a  better  road,  than  our  Lord  allows  us.  He  has 
called  us  to  suffering,  and  not  a  stone  is  in  our  way 
by  chance ;  but  by  His  wise  providence,  all  the  waters 
are  told;  all  the  streams,  the  storms,  and  stones, 
that  are  in  our  way  are  written  in  His  book.  Our 
wanderings  are  numbered.  It  is  our  comfort  that 
our  Lord  is  looking  on.  God  is  like  the  nobleman 
who  lays  the  cup  in  pawn  ;  and  appoints  the  bounds. 
He  sets  down  the  race  in  His  word,  with  all  the  way- 
marks,  and  sets  His  Son  at  the  end  of  the  Avay,  hold- 
ing up  in  His  hand  the  Crown  of  glory,  and  crying  to 
the  nmners,  To  the  gate  with  speed !  See  the  prize. 
Win,  and  have  it.  As  in  a  horse  race,  many  are  gallop- 
ing and  posting  from  one  sin  to  another  till  they  be  at 


lOo  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


hell !  and  Satan,  out  of  his  own  stables,  furnishes  them 
with  fresh  horses;  and  aye  as  one  tires,  immediately 
another  is  brought  !  But  not  a  step  should  we  go,  but 
as  God  has  directed  us.  The  kirk  does  not  set  this 
race  before  us  :  neither  may  king  or  kirk  change  our 
King  Jesus'  way,  to  cast  us  about  dykes,  into  Rome's 
foot  roads,  and  Antichrist's  by-ways.  Scotland's  race  is 
set  down,  Jer.  viii.  6,  "Every  one  turned  to  his  course, 
as  the  horse  rusheth  in  to  the  battle."  The  com- 
monality are  galloping  on  covetousness,  the  nobles  on 
oppression,  and  the  whole  land  on  strange  apparel;  and 
some  of  all  ranks  in  the  three  kingdoms  are  posting  to 
hell  on  idolatry  and  masses. 

When  God's  temple  was  last  measured  in  this  land, 
much  was  taken  from  Him.  Either  we  must  change 
our  course,  or  look  (i.)  to  lose  the  prize;  or  (2.)  to  want 
Christ's  company  and  convoy;  or  (3.)  to  get  leave  to 
go  all  upon  horseback  in  an  ill  course  with  patience. 
There  is  a  necessity  for  hope  and  patience  to  wait  on; 
because,  at  the  place  where  they  start,  men  see  not  the 
gold  in  the  race  :  but  must  run  the  first  mile  ;  and  not 
only  the  first,  but  to  the  end,  before  they  sit  down. 
He  that  falls  back,  within  his  own  length  of  the  score, 
or  draws  his  bridle  and  sets  up  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  loses  the  race.  We  see  not  the  prize  here, 
neither  is  it  before  our  senses,  nor  hard  by  our  hand, 
but  it  is  out  of  sight ;  we  have  nothing  but  God's  pro- 
mise for  it,  and  some  small  arles."^  Behold,  "  The  hus- 
bandmen waiteth  for  the  ^Drecious  fruit  of  the  earth." 
We  must  wait  on,  winter,  spring,  and  summer,  till 
harvest  come;  for  howbeit  ill  weather,  and  a  rainy 
season  come,  yet  the  husbandman  folds  not  his  hands, 
nor  lays  up.the  plough  by  the  walls;  and  with  patience 

*  Earnest. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  loi 


works  for  the  harvest ;  for  he  knows  God  may,  and 
will  send  a  good  and  full  crop.  And  what  of  a  winter 
storm  !  What  albeit  they  mock  and  persecute  us,  and 
Satan  send  out  his  dogs  to  bark  at  us,  to  make  us  take 
a  house  over  our  heads  ?  Let  us  be  going  forward  ; 
it  will  blow  up  fair  again.  Read  Luke  xxi.  19,  '^In 
patience  possess  ye  your  souls ;  "  verse  28,  "  Lift  up 
your  heads ;  for  the  day  of  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh.'^  This  condemns  such  as  Avill  not  run  one  foot  in 
this  race,  except  the  gold  be  in  their  hand,  and  they 
will  have  God  paying  interest,  and  giving  wages  in 
hand.  But  faith  trusts  God,  and  if  ye  get  but  one  kiss 
of  Him  in  this  life,  or  the  welcome  of  His  bowels,  with 
a  sweet  smile,  and  embrace  in  His  arms,  it  is  worth  all 
ye  can  suffer  for  Him  in  this  life.  Got  not  Abraham 
a  promise  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  yet  got  it  not  in 
this  life,  but  dwelt  in  tents,  and  hung  by  hope  !  x\y, 
ye  will  not  play,  except  God  give  you  heaven  in  your 
hand  ;  as  if  God  were  a  child,  to  give  you  the  garland, 
ere  the  race  be  run.  No,  God's  on-waiters  come  to 
honour  in  God's  court ;  the  more  the  good  servant  is 
faithful  he  has  the  more  to  crave.  He  who  takes  all  at 
once,  and  forenails''  all  before  the  term,  will  be  a  poor 
man.  We,  like  fools,  would  forenail  our  heaven ;  but 
it  is  best  that  God  keeps  all  until  the  term  day; 
for  he  is  a  rich  servant  who,  in  the  end,  has  his 
heaven  to  crave.  No  marvel  then,  that  patience  be 
needful.  Satan  runs  up  and  down  like  a  great  war- 
ship, with  twenty  pieces  of  ordnance,  shooting  at 
all  who  are  sailing  for  Canaan ;  and  roaring  out, 
Surrender.  But  give  not  up  ;  suffer,  suffer,  take  a 
shot,  hold  out  Christ's  white  flag ;  Christ  will  mend 
the  gap  that  Satan's  bullet  has  made.      We  fear  ill 

Spends  before  he  gets  the  money. 


I02  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


upon  the  land,  for  the  abuse  of  the  gospel;  and 
indeed  that  there  will  be  an  onset.  Have  patience  and 
ye  will  win  the  field. 

^'Looking  to  yesusP — Well  kend  the  Apostle  the 
de\il  would  come  our  gate  in  his  holiday  clothes, 
with  an  ^^411  these  will  I  give  thee."  And  when  we 
are  running,  he  will  cry.  Here  away  !  But,  said  the 
Apostle,  Give  him  not  one  look,  although  he  should 
burst.  What  have  ye  to  do  with  him?  *' Look  to 
Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith."  Look  to 
your  forerunner,  and  follow  Him  in  the  race. 

Then  in  this  our  following,  we  must  look  how 
Jesus  ran.  We  must  obsei-ve  all  the  properties  of  his 
running,  and  do  just  as  He  did.  i.  He  yoked**  to  the 
Jews,  early  in  the  morning,  and  was  obedient  to  the 
law  in  the  cradle.  At  twelve  years  of  age  He  disputed 
with  the  doctors  in  the  temple ;  He  was  still  about  His 
Father's  business,  late  and  early.  Yea,  even  upon  the 
cross  He  was  running.  So  run,  young  men,  in  your 
youth ;  start  to  the  gate,  break  off,  and  run  to  your 
dying  day;  halve  not  your  lives.  If  ye  have  lost  time, 
and  were  too  long  in  beginning,  be  like  a  man  far 
behind,  when  he  looks  to  the  sun  and  sees  it  low,  and 
remembers  he  has  far  to  go ;  he  sets  the  spurs  to  the 
horse.  So  rouse  up  your  lazy  souls  and  post.  Post, 
post,  heaven  is  waiting  for  you.  A  special  virtue,  or 
property,  in  a  runner,  is  to  look  even  before  him :  for 
il  ye  look  over  your  shoulder,  ye  may  possibly  not 
break  your  neck,  but  ye  will  certainly  miss  a  stride. 
Il  ye  look  at  meadows,  houses,  and  worldly  pleasures 
by  the  way,  ye  will  possibly  fall  and  break  your  toes ; 
therefore  look  aye  home,  straight  out  before  you. 
Give  not  the  world  a  look  for  the  world.     But  very 

Set  upon  them. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  103 


often,  after  we  have  taken  our  leave  of  the  world,  and 
of  sin,  we  have  a  strong  inclination  to  be  back  again. 
While  taking  a  hearty  look  of  the  world,  a  stone  may 
take  a  man's  foot  in  his  journey,  and  break  his  leg. 

2.  Christ,  in  His  race,  got  many  lets,  the  devil 
came  in  with,  ^'All  these  things  will  I  give  thee,"  to 
turn  Him  into  His  Inn,  and  to  lay  Him  over  the  board.* 
The  world  set  on  Him ;  but  they  could  not  all  make 
honest  Jesus  come  one  foot  out  of  the  road.  Keep 
aye  the  high-way.  Smart  men  will  not  come  under 
trysting  with  juggling  knaves,  nor  subscribe  any  writs, 
for  fear  they  bring  them  under  a  sum,  and  then  take 
their  lands  from  them.  Never,  never  come  in  com- 
muning with  Satan  and  sin.  Some  fools  give  the 
devil  writs,  and  subscribe  a  submission  to  the  world 
and  sin,  and  take  the  devil  and  their  own  hearts  to 
be  overseers.  Beware  of  that  work.  Christ  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  world,  in  His  journey. 
When  they  offered  to  make  Him  a  king.  He  refused, 
and  ran  to  the  mountain,  and  there  He  prayed  (John 
vi.  15).  He  took  but  His  meat  of  it,  and  all  He  had 
was  borrowed.  He  looked  blunt-like  on  it ;  like  a  man 
who  would  fain  have  been  away ;  and  so  was  seen  on 
it.  We  should  be  like  some  old  men  that  want 
children,  who  quit  all  to  their  friends,  and  get  a- 
bond,  for  meat  and  clothing,  all  their  days.  Our 
love  and  affection  should  quit  the  world,  and  seek 
a  bond  of  our  Lord,  for  food  and  raiment,  all  our 
days,  and  be  content  therewith. 

3.  So  run  as  Christ ;  He  ran  so  as  He  left  nothing 
undone.  ^*  Father,  I  have  finished  the  work  that  Thou 
gavest  Me  to  do  "  (John  xvii).  See  that  ye  have  all 
ended  against  night,  that  ye  may  say  as  Paul  said 

*  The  table. 


104  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


(2  Tim.  iv.  7),  '^  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  There 
are  many  who  run  as  Paul,  when  a  Pharisee,  ran; 
but  they  know  not  where-away.  Many  forget  their 
conscience  by  the  gate,*  as  a  drunken  man  forgets 
his  sword  at  the  Inn  in  which  he  lodged.  Take 
all  with  you,  your  conscience,  and  faith.  They  who 
go  to  sea  take  all  with  them  :  for  when  the  wind  and 
tide  has  put  them  off  land,  they  will  not  win  back 
again,  to  fetch  any  thing  they  have  left  behind. 

'^  But  zu hat  good  will  our  looki?ig  to  Jesus  do  lis  V^ — 
Very  much,  He  is  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  '^  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith.''  For  Christ  is  all. 
He  draws  with  His  Spirit,  and  He  leads  us  through 
the  mire,  and  goes  before  us.  And  we  have  this 
advantage,  when  we  faint.  He  looks  back  over  His 
shoulder  with  a  smile,  takes  us  by  the  hand,  and  says 
(Luke  xii.  32),  "  Fear  not,  little  flock,''  &c.  (John  xvi.). 
*^  Yet  a  little  while,  and  I  am  with  you."  Even  as  a 
loving  guide  says  to  the  tired  man,  *'  We  have  but  a 
little  water  or  two  to  pass  through :  and  see  there  is 
but  yonder  hill  betwixt  us  and  the  town,  ye  are  near  the 
city."  He  will  see  you  again,  for  He  is  a  Captain 
indeed.  In  taking  in  a  town,  the  soldiers  will  ven- 
ture sometimes  to  scale  the  wall  where  the  captain 
is  ;  but  it  is  not  so  here.  Jesus  Himself  took  the 
castle  of  heaven  first :  it  cost  Him  blood  to  win  in 
and  break  up  the  doors.  Now  He  stands  in  the 
entry,  and  cries.  Come  in,  I  have  broken  up  the  gate, 
I  have  win  the  city ;  be  not  afraid,  I  shall  warrant 
you.  Therefore  (Heb.  vi.  10)  He  is  called  a  fore- 
runner. He  went  before  to  open  the  doors,  and  the 
park-dykes,t  and  take  the  stones  out  of  the  way,  and 

■  The  road.  f  The  gates  of  the  park. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  105 


says,  Step  fonvard,  my  brethren,  be  not  frighted.  So 
then,  when  we  run,  we  are  not  to  lean  to  our  own 
strength,  for  fear  we  get  a  fall.  He  who  thinks  he 
has  little  need  of  Christ's  help  is  ready  to  fall.  He 
who  knows  not  his  own  weakness  fears  not ;  and  he 
who  knows  not  his  own  heart  has  good  cause  to  fear 
he  may  get  a  fall,  and  dash  out  all  his  brains." 

"  The  finisher  of  our  faiths — We  will  not  have 
Jesus  pulling  us  to  the  gate,  and  leaving  us  there. 
No  (i  Cor.  i.  8),  "  Who  shall  also  confirm  you  to  the 
end."  It^ts-a^work  of  Christ  as  Mediator,  and  written 
in  the  commission  His  Father  gave  Him,  that  He 
should  lose  none,  but  raise  him  up  at  at  the  last  day 
(John  vi.  39.)  In  Eph.  v.  27,  He  presenteth  His 
church  to  Himself,  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot 
or  wrinkle.  He  shall  get  His  bride,  the  church,  all 
arrayed  in  His  Father's  clothes,  in  at  heaven's  gate, 
and  slip  her  in  His  Father's  hand,  and  say,  Father, 
there  her  now  !  I  have  done  my  part ;  I  have  not 
laboured  in  vain.  Let  them  be  confounded  who 
take  this  glory  from  Jesus,  and  give  it  over  to  that 
weather-cock,  free  will.  For,  here  an  argument  that 
hell  will  not  answer.  The  Father  promised  Christ  a 
seed  (Isaiah  liii.  10).  And  a  willing  people  (Psalm  ex.  3). 
And  the  ends  of  the  earth  (Psalm  ii.  8)  to  serve  Him 
as  a  reward  of  His  sufferings.  Now,  shall  God  crack 
His  credit  to  His  Son,  and  shall  Christ  do  His  work 
and  get  the  wind  for  His  pains,  except  free  will  say, 
amen?  This  were  a  bairn's  bargain.  No,  it  is  a  part 
of  Christ's  wages,  that  men's  free  will  shall  come  with 
cap  in  hand,  and  bow  before  Him.  He  shall  have  a 
willing  people. 

We  must  digress  a  little,  and  speak  of  Christ's  race. 
Observe,  this  is  the  apostle's  manner,  Christ  comes  in 
his  way,  and  he  cannot  pass  by  Him  :  but  he  must 


lo6  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


stand  still  and  speak  a  word  with  Him,  and  give  Him 
a  kiss  by  the  way.  (Col.  i.  14),  "In  whom  we  have 
redemption,"  &c.  And  there,  ere  he  go  further,  he 
must  run  out  upon  Christ,  and  His  nature,  and  offices. 
Verse  15,  "Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God, 
the  first-bom  of  every  creature."  See  Rev.  i.,  "  Grace 
be  to  you,  and  peace  from  Jesus."  Then  he  runs 
out,  who  is  the  "  faithful  witness,  the  first  begotten  of 
the  dead,"  &c. 

Learn  a  lesson.  When  Jesus  comes  in  your  mind, 
leave  your  way,  and  go  and  speak  with  Him  a  while, 
and  go  not  soon  from  Him.  Is  He  come  ?  I^et  Him 
not  go  without  a  kiss.  Oh  !  and  alas !  we  oft  times 
let  Him  go  as  He  comes.  But  why  do  His  friends 
commend  Him  so  much?  Even  that  you  and  He 
may  fall  in  love  together. 

"  Who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  himr — He 
sets  down  a  special  virtue  in  Christ's  running :  who, 
for  the  eye-look*  to  joy,  "endured  the  cross,  and 
despised  the  shame."  Here  is  a  question,  What  an 
eye-look  to  joy  was  this,  that  Christ  had?  What 
made  Him  run,  seeing  heaven  was  in  His  bosom? 
What  needed  He  rejoice  to  be  at  home  ? 

Answer,  As  He  was  God,  nothing  could  be  added 
to  His  joy.  Yet,  howbeit  He  carried  the  God-head 
about  with  Him,  the  sight  and  sense  of  the  God-head 
was  covered  in  the  days  of  Christ's  humiliation  :  there 
was  a  bar  and  a  lock  put  on  the  God-head,  that  He 
saw  not  as  He  now  seeth.  In  that.  He  took  the  pil- 
grim's lot  with  us,  and  was  a  traveller  in  respect  of 
sense  and  clear  light ; — for.  He  as  man  was  ignorant  of 
some  things  then,  as  of  the  day  of  judgment,  and 


Regard  to. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


107 


fruit  on  the  fig-tree.     He  knew  He  would  be  nearer 
God ;  the  God-head  stood  aloof  from  Him  then. 

2.  The  joy  before  Him  was,  the  contentment  He 
would  have  in  His  new  Bride;  the  joy  that  He  had 
won  through  hell,  and  gotten  His  errand.  Sad  and 
heavy  would  His  heart  have  been,  to  have  missed  us  : 
He  was  glad  of  the  hire  His  Father  had  promised 
Him.  It  is  natural  for  a  man  to  rejoice  when  he 
gets  the  fruit  of  his  labours :  and  there  is  thanksgiving, 
and  joy  in  heaven  for  the  conversion  of  sinners.  And 
He  gives  thanks  far  more  when  they  are  redeemed 
fully  (Heb.  xii.  12).  In  the  midst  of  the  congregation, 
He  sings  praise  to  God  His  Father,  for  the  children 
He  had  given  Him;  but  more  especially  when  He 
shall  have  ended  all,  and  got  the  goods  in  His  hand, 
that  He  bought  so  dear.  He  shall  then  sing  for  joy ; 
and  when  Christ  sings  for  thy  redemption,  and  giveth 
thanks,  thou  hast  far  more  cause  to  sing  than  He. 

3.  The  joy  set  before  Him  was  the  glory  to  be 
manifested  in  Him,  which  He  prays  for  (John  xvii.  5) 
which  *'He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world 
was:"  that  joy  that  His  Father  will  welcome  Him 
with  and  (to  speak  wdth  reverence)  clap  His  head  for 
His  pains.  As  He  rejoiced  from  all  eternity  with  His 
Father  (Prov.  viii.  31),  and  was  His  Father's  delight: 
so  now  He  shall  rejoice  with  His  Father,  He  and  He 
together  in  redeemed  mankind.  And  the  manhood 
with  all  His  members,  and  the  angels  (for  they  rejoice 
at  the  conversion  of  sinners)  shall  rejoice  with  Him 
to  see  His  body  fulfilled,  and  to  have  them  all  under 
His  wings. 

4.  Consider  the  sadness  Jesus  had,  and  the  tears 
He  shed  in  the  days  of  His  flesh;  but  that  His  Father 
dried,  and  wiped  the  blood  and  sweat  off  His  face, 
and  set  Him  in  a  place,  where  He  should  shed  tears, 


lo8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


and  die  no  more.  So  do  as  Jesus  did.  And  why  ? 
Because  never  man  endured  out  his  longsome  race 
but  He  who  got  a  sight  of  heaven.  See  wherefore 
Abraham  dwelt  in  tents,  and  Moses  (Heb.  xi.) 
''  choosed  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin."  He  saw  a 
sight  that  every  one  cannot  see.  Ye  know  a  man 
who  has  been  seven  years  away  from  his  wife  and 
'  children,  coming  home  again  and  seeing  the  smoke  of 
his  ov;n  house,  his  heart  rises  a  foot  higher  than  it 
was  before.  Would  ye  run?  Get  a  sight  of  the 
city.  Get  Christ's  prospect,  to  see  the  joy  set  before 
you.  Get  the  earnest  of  the  inheritance,  and  ye  will 
never  rue  the  bargain.  Whosoever  has  a  mind  for 
heaven,  runs  a  while  in  blind  zeal,  until  they 
sweat,  and  then  grow  lame,  like  a  horse  that  is  ill 
taken  care  of,  after  hard  riding ;  so  are  those  who  never 
saw  heaven  afar  off  by  faith.  But  a  sight  of  the  gold 
makes  the  runner  spring  and  run.  O  what  wrought 
this  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  !  It  made  Him  endure 
the  cross;  His  Father  laid  the  cross  on  His  back,  and 
He  carried  it  thirty-three  years,  and  never  gave  it  a 
shake  to  put  it  off.  Oh,  what  crosses  !  Never  man 
was  handled  as  He  was;  for  some  are  under  some 
crosses,  and  free  of  others.  When  Satan  and  men 
struck  Job,  the  Lord  blessed  him  and  upheld  him  : 
But  on  Jesus,  all  at  once  fell  God,  man,  devils,  law, 
justice,  sin,  and  the  curse  !  Ye  cannot  tell  me  what 
comfort  Christ  had,  when  He  cried,  "  My  God,  my 
God!"  That  was  a  sore  thraw  for  His  back.  O!  the 
fire  was  hot  then.  But,  when  Christ  was  in  His  prison, 
in  this  dark  night,  there  was  a  hole  to  let  Him  see  day. 
He  had  His  eye  by  faith  upon  the  hope  of  the  joy  of 
the  fair  day  before  Him.  He  got  a  foul  black  day,  all 
clouds  of  darkness  about  Him ;  but  He  said  within 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


109 


Himself,  I  will  get  my  fair  day  when  all  this  ill  weather 
is  away. 

Now  let  me  speak  to  a  heavy  heart ;  that  looks  for 
a  shower  upon  this  land.  And  indeed  it  is  black  in 
the  west;  the  clouds  are  gathering;  the  shower  is 
coming.  Take  a  house  in  time,  yet  fear  not,  a  shower 
will  not  melt  you,  and  Christ  has  a  fire  in  His  Father's 
house  to  dry  your  clothes.  O  !  but  he  who  has  faith 
to  look  up  through  yonder  blue  sky  to  see  the  throne 
of  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  to  wait  for  the  rending  of 
the  heavens,  when  Christ  shall  get  through  His  fair 
head,  with  a  great  crown  of  gold  upon  it ;  I  say,  he 
who  gets  faith  to  see,  and  wait  for  these,  will  give  a 
leap,  and  a  skip  in  his  journey.  Let  us  suppose  Christ 
were  bodily  upon  the  earth,  and  a  water  betwixt  you 
and  Him  :  yea,  a  lake  of  fire  betwixt  you  and  Him  ;  I 
think  ye  would  venture  to  be  at  Him.  Now  set  out 
in  your  journey,  set  down  your  feet,  and  be  not  be- 
guiled with  the  devil's  apples,  which  he  casts  down  in 
your  gate.  Christ,  in  the  end  of  the  journey,  holds 
out  His  long  arm,  with  a  crown  of  glory,  and  shouts, 
and  cries.  Silly,  tired  bairns.  Look  here-away !  look  up 
the  brae,  come  this  way. 

Ye  may  ask  what  power  had  Christ  to  give  His  man- 
hood to  die  for  others.  This  would  seem  to  be  against 
justice ;  as  a  king's  subject  has  not  power  to  slay  him- 
self, because  in  so  doing  he  takes  a  subject  from  his 
prince.  Answer.  The  subject  is  not  altogether  his 
own ;  he  owes  his  life  to  his  king,  and  may  not  dispose 
of  it,  except  he  fail,  against  the  king.  But,  howbeit, 
the  manhood  was  God's  creature,  yet  it  was  by  the  law 
of  a  personal  union  God's  manhood,  and  God's  flesh 
and  blood  ;  and  the  God-head  gave  to  the  manhood 
absolute  power  to  give  his  life  for  men,  and  to  pledge 
Himself  as  the  price  of  our  redemption.     See,  then, 


no  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


here  a  sweet  mystery;  the  God-head  furnished  the  sum 
to  Jesus,  and  gave  Him  the  price  to  pay  ;  and  the  man- 
hood gave  it  back  to  justice,  as  suffering  and  dead,  for 
a  ransom  :  law  furnished  the  sum,  and  justice  re- 
ceived it,  and  gave  Christ  our  bond  to  tear  in  pieces. 

Another  fruit  of  our  Lord's  to-look*  to  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  Him,  was,  ''  He  despised  the  shame.^^ 
What  shame  ?  Lighted  there  any  shame  on  Christ  ? 
Ay,  in  truth  !  Heaven  and  earth  wonder  at  an  ashamed 
Christ.  Look  if  Christ  got  not  His  part  of  it ;  when 
mickle  black  shame  came  upon  Him.  But  how. 
Shamed  by  men,  and  shamed  by  God,  I  shall  prove 
both. 

One  rascal  struck  Him  on  the  head,  another  villain 
spat  on  His  fair  face :  a  great  shame  \  they  wagged 
their  heads,  and  brake  a  jest  upon  Him.  Take  up  holy 
Jesus  now  !  say  they.  He  trusted  in  God,  let  Him  de- 
liver Him  !  Think  ye  not  but  that  went  to  Christ's 
heart,  to  hear  those  black  mouths  make  a  mock  of  God's 
glory  ?  Herod,  and  his  men  of  war  mocked  Him. 
And  see  more  shame  yet ;  howbeit  He  was  an  honest 
man  all  His  life,  they  conveyed  Him  out  of  the  town, 
and  the  guard  at  His  back  :  His  enemies  scoffing  at 
him,  and  children  w^ondering  at  Him.  And  what  more  ? 
Dear  Man !  He  went  out  at  the  ports,t  bearing  His 
own  cross  on  His  back  !  Of  seventy  disciples,  twelve 
apostles,  and  all  His  friends,  not  one  to  help  Him,  or 
take  an  end,  or  a  lift  of  the  cursed  tree !  And  they 
put  a  crown  of  thorns  on  Him,  scorning  His  kingdom. 
Was  not  this  to  put  the  thiefs'  mark  on  Him  ?  And 
what  more  ?  Might  they  not  have  said,  This  poor 
man  has  few  friends  .^  But  His  friends  would  take  no 
part  of  His  shame,  and  yet  He  took  all  their  shame. 

*  Eyelook,     Regard  to.  t  Gates. 


C  OMMUNION  SERMONS.  1 1 1 


God  shamed  Him  also.  His  Father  said  a  curse 
and  malediction  light  on  Him,  shame  light  on  Him. 
Start  not  at  this.  I  shall  clear  it.  Sin  has  aye  shame 
on  its  back  :  ye  know  that  God  made  Him  sin  ;  and  if 
God  made  Him  sin,  and  a  curse,  He  behoved  to  bring 
shame  on  Him.  For  the  shame  that  should  have 
come  on  us,  and  the  reproachful  words  that  justice 
would  have  given  sinners,  they  lighted  on  our  Lord.  Ye 
see  when  a  thief  is  taken  in  the  fang;"^  and  brought 
before  the  judge,  and  put  to  an  assize,  and  challenged; 
he  looks  down,  and  thinks  shame  to  look  any  man  in 
the  face.  When  the  judge  says,  How  durst  thou  do 
it  ?  Silly  man,  he  blushes,  hangs  his  head,  and  never 
says  a  word.  So  God  put  Christ  upon  the  pannel, 
arraigned  Him  before  His  tribunal,  and  accused  Him 
for  our  sins.  Christ  could  not  deny  them,  but  stood 
as  a  sheep  dumb  before  her  shearers.  He  hung  His 
head  before  justice,  and  the  honest  Man  took  with  the 
fault.  He  said  he  would  die  for  the  murderer,  adult- 
erer, swearer,  idolater,  drunkard,  &c.  Now  there 
was  reason  here,  that  God  should  put  Christ  in  this 
plea,t  for  the  shamed  man :  because  God's  wise  will 
is  the  rule  of  all  justice.  God  made  the  first  cove- 
nant that  Adam  should  be  legally  for  us,  and  the 
second  covenant  was  so  contrived  that  Christ  should 
be  for  us.  For  Christ's  manhood  has  a  personality, 
not  of  its  o\vn,  but  of  the  God-head ;  and  by  the  law 
of  a  personal  union,  Christ  should  enjoy  Himself. 
Now,  because  Christ  had  a  legal  personality  from  us, 
and  as  in.  His  person  undeTHis  sufferings  He  enjoyed 
not  the  fruits  of  that  personality,  but  was  plunged  in 
fear  and  horror,  while  He  said  (John  xii.  27),  "  What 
shall  I  joy?"  yet    the  God-head  (to  speak  so)   was 

*  Act  of  clutching  the  article,        t  Controversy. 


()^i^p.v-^-^  \  11^ 


1 1 2  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


like  cork  to  make  the  manhood  sweem  above,  that  it 
was  not  swallowed  up  with  God's  infinite  wrath ;  and 
the  manhood  had  personal  legality  from  us,  to  bear 
the  strokes  by  law  due  to  us.  Hence  come  and  learn 
and  be  willing,  with  Christ,  to  want  a  limb  of  your 
credit  for  Him.  He  was  shamed  for  you.  O  won- 
derful !  An  ashamed  sinner  is  nothing,  an  ashamed 
devil  is  ordinary:  but  God  ashamed,  an  ashamed 
Christ  is  a  miracle  !  One  honest  man  will  suffer 
loss  for  another ;  but  to  take  another's  shame  is  a 
different  thing  :  yet  this  rarity  was  in  Christ.  A 
man  who  is  a  cautioner  for  his  waster  friend,  the 
judge  counts  not  him  the  waster,  he  is  still  thought 
an  honest  man;  only  he  pays  the  sum.  But  Christ 
our  Lord,  besides  the  sum  He  paid  by  law,  He  was 
as  the  dyvour,  for  our  sins  were  laid  upon  Him  :  for 
He  and  we  are  so  near  here,  that  He  is  as  us,  and 
made  sin  for  us. 

''And  is  set  dozun  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
Godr — He  was  a  good  man,  and  endured  all  patiently, 
and  so  it  was  seen.  He  got  much  glory  in  the 
end ;  there  could  not  but  grace  come  of  Him, 
He  was  so  mild  under  His  sufferings.  (Phil.  ii.  9), 
*'\\Tierefore  God  hath  highly  exalted  Him,''  cS:c. 
Wherefore,  then,  is  His  sitting  down  nothing  but  an 
exaltation,  a  state  of  glory  above  men  and  angels.  To 
Him  is  all  power  given ;  and  He  has  received  a 
name  (Acts  v.  31),  ''  Him  hath  God  exalted  with  His 
right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give 
repentance  to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins. 

Now  to  understand  this  the  better,  note  that  His 
sitting  as  God  upon  His  Father's  right  hand  is  but 
the  open  manifestation  of  His  glory,  which  He  had 
before  the  world  was.  His  rising  as  a  man  to  this 
state  hath  two  steps  going  before  it. 


COMMUMON  SERMONS.  u-^ 


1.  The  nature  of  man  in  Christ  is  made  of  the 
same  metal  with  our  nature,  and  therefore  deserved 
a. personal  union:  and  therefore  the  God  of  grace 
raised  the  manhood  above  itself,  to  be  mamed  to  the 
God-head.  This  is  the  first  step  of  the  Headship 
spoken  of  (Heb.  i.),  God  has  made  Him  *'the  heir  of 
all  things."  For  God  indeed  lifted  man  above  Him- 
self, in  giving  to  the  manhood  no  created  personality, 
but  the  personality  of  the  God-head ;  so  as  that 
blessed  roanfeood,  at  one  moment  should  subsist  in 
the^iilofd,  and  subsist  in  the  infinite  personality  of 
the  God-head :  that  the  man  Christ,  and  the  God-head 
should  be  in  one  person. 

2.  Upon  this,  He  resolved  a  free  donation  of 
Christ  to  the  manhood,  to  be  King,  Priest,  and 
Prophet,  sufficiently  qualified  to  grace  us.  This  was 
grace"  also  ta  the  manhood,  yet  this  grace  was  not 
given  in  such  a  measure  to  Christ,  in  the  days  of  His 
flesh.  Howbeit  this  grace,  and  the  personal  union 
did  sufficiently  bear  Him  up  under  all  His  sufferings. 

3.  After  His  sufferings,  the  manhood  saw '  the 
God-head,  in  a  more  glorious  manner,  and  enjoyed 
Him  after  an  admirable  manner,  and  is  made  a  per- 
sonal worker,  and  absolute  commander  of  the  world ; 
a  Prince,  a  Judge,  a  Lord,  and  next  to  God;  over 
and  above  all  creatures.  That  our  Husband  is  so 
high,  is  great  matter  of  comfort  to  the  faithful.  Men 
who  have  a  friend  at  court  are  aye  troubling  him 
with  suits  and  writs ;  we  write  not  half  many  letters 
up  to  our  Friend  at  court.  He  delights  to  speak  of 
us  to  His  Father,  and  to  carry  us  in  His  heart,  as  the 
High  Priest  did  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  on  his 
breast :  and  to  engrave  us  on  the  palms  of  His 
hands.  Then  see  the  gate,  and  follow  Christ  Jesus 
on  the  cross ;  the  cross  is  your  way.     Christ  got  a 

H     ^ 


114  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


deeper  gate ;  His  way  was  the  cross,  and  the  crown. 
Now,  says  the  apostle,  "  Consider  such  an  one,''  and 
yet  spoken  against  by  sinners  :  for  sinners  gave  Him 
the  lie.  Look  upon  Him  lest  ye  faint.  (Psalm  xxxi.  22), 
''  I  said  in  my  haste,  I  am  cut  off  before  thine  eyes." 
(Isaiah  xlix.  14),  "Zion  said,  the  Lord  hath  forsaken 
me,  my  God  hath  forgotten  me."  Think  not,  ye  will 
aye  be  alike  stout  in  the  journey ;  sometimes  ye  will 
fall  down,  and  Christ  will  have  you  a  lifting ;  but  He 
is  near  you  with  His  flagon  of  wine  to  comfort  you. 
Amen. 


SERMON        VI/'^ 

Listen^  O  isles,  tmtoine;  and  hearken ,  ye  people ,  from  far.  The 
Lord  hath  called  me  from  the  womb ;  from  the  bowels  of  my 
mother  hath  He  made  mention  of  my  name,  ^c, — Isaiah 
xlix.  I,  2,  3,  4. 

THE  Prophet,  from  the  fortieth  chapter  of  this 
prophecy,  to  the  end  thereof,  discourses  of 
these  two  things,  i.  Of  the  bringing  of  the  Church 
back  from  Babylon.  2.  Of  the  restoration  of  the 
Church  by  Jesus  Christ.     Here  is 

1.  A  preface  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Church  under  Him.  And  in  these  words 
Christ  Himself  is  speaking  to  the  islands,  and,  among 
others,  to  Scotland  and  England  :  for  Britain  is  one 
of  those  islands. 

2.  The  Person  spoken  of  is  described  from  His 
calling,  and  the  power  of  His  mediation,  compared 
to  a  sharp  sword. 

3.  In  allusion  to  the  people  for  whom  He  is  to 
work,  it  is  said  of  Him,  '^  Thou  art  My  servant,  O 
Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified." 

4.  The  unsuccessfulness  of  His  ministry,  occasioned 
by  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jews ;  '•  I  have  laboured  in 
vain,  I  have  spent  my  strength  for  nought,  and  in 
vain." 

'^  Listen,  O  isles,  unto  me^ — Christ  first  made  choice 

*  Preached  at  a  Communion,  at  Kirkmabrcck,  July  19th,  1634. 


1 1 6  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


of  the  people  of  the  Jews ;  but  now  He  has  broken 
down  the  partition  wall  betwixt  Jew  and  Gentile ;  and 
cries  to  us,  ^'  Listen,  O  isles,  and  hear,  O  Scotland 
and  England/'  Ye  who  lie  far  out  in  an  isle  of  the 
sea,  listen  unto  Me,  and  ye  shall  be  My  land  and 
heritage.  Now,  O  Scotland,  God  be  thanked,  thy 
name  is  in  the  Bible.  Christ  spake  to  us  long  since, 
ere  ever  we  were  born.  Christ  said,  "  Father,  give 
Me  the  ends  of  the  earth,  put  in  Scotland  and 
England,  with  the  isles-men  in  the  great  Charter 
also  :  for  I  will  have  them  among  the  rest  (Psalm  ii. 
8).  God  said,  He  should  get  all  the  land  He  named ; 
all  Sinim,  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  :  all  beyond 
the  river,  Sheba  and  Seba.  The  land  in  acres,  and 
ridges,*  was  measured  out  to  Christ,  and  the  march-t 
stones  set.  And  as  ye  ken,  in  Charters,  houses, 
crofts,  mosses,  moors,  fowling,  and  fishing,  even  ail 
in  the  land's  length  and  breadth  are  included,  so 
Christ  gets  all  His  chosen  ones  that  are  included 
in  the  grand  Charter  of  election.  Believe  in  the 
Jiame  and  authority  of  the  Son  of  God,  I  pray  you 
Ibeheve,  and  read  Scotland's  Charter  Psalm  ii.  8, 
/xlv.  and  Ixxii.  lo.     Will  ye  then  believe? 

But  now  we  are  like  to  be  turned  over  to  a  new 
master ;  Antichrist  is  claiming  us.  Eet  us  be  woj 
for  that.  Ken  ye  what  the  enemies  of  the  Kirk  are 
doing?  They  are  working  hard  that  they  may  get 
Christ  overthrown,  and  His  Father's  land  taken  from 
Him.  Think  ye  they  will  come  speed  ?  Nay,  they 
shall  not :  the  gates  of  hell  and  Rome  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  Him.  Regard  them  not,  for  they  shall 
not  overcome.  Christ's  Charter  is  surer  than  that. 
Then  let  the  isles  hearken  and  obey;  and  I  fear  not 

*  Rigs ;  furrows.         t  Boundary-stones.        Ij:  Grieved. 


i 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


117 


that  Christ  shall  lose  one  foot-breadth  in  Britain. 
But  if  ye  will  not  believe  and  obey  Him,  surely  there 
will  be  a  land  lost,  and  we  will  be  given  away.  It 
was  not  an  ill  conquest  that  Christ  made,  and  could 
not  but  thrive.  It  was  well  won  (as  we  may  say) 
by  the  sweat  of  His  brow.  Christ  is  not  like  many 
daft^  young  heirs,  who  lose  their  estates  by  their  folly. 
Christ  is  no  waster.  He  never  sold,  nor  mortgaged  a 
furrf  of  His  Father's  land.  It  is  on?-  sins  that  have 
sold  us,  and  not  He. 

"  Listen,  O  isles,  Hearken,  c5>r." — The  isles  must  be 
Christ's,  upon  condition  they  hear  and  obey  Him. 
Christ  our  Master  must  have  service  from  us ;  else  we 
cast  away  our  rights.  *^  And  being  made  perfect,  He 
became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  unto  all  who 
believe  and  obey  Him''  (Heb.  v.  9).  Of  Him  the 
Father  says,  **  This  is  my  Avell-beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased,  hear  Him."  Listen  therefore  to 
the  matter,  for  upon  your  peril  be  it,  if  ye  reject  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

'*  The  Lord  hath  called  me  from  the  womb^ — \Vhat 
means  this?  Might  not  Christ  have  come  uncalled? 
Nay,  "  No  man  taketh  this  honour  unto  himself,  but  he 
that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron"  (Heb.  v.  4,  5). 
^*  So  also  Christ  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made 
unto  Him  an  high  priest,  but  He  that  said.  Thou 
art  My  Son,  to-day  have  I  begotten  Thee."  If 
ye  ask  what  was  Christ's  calling?  I  say  it  was,  i. 
God's  eternal  decree,  wherein  it  was  decreed,  and 
agreed  upon  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  be- 
twixt the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit; 
that  Christ  should  be  the  person :  and  writs,  as  it 
were,  past  betwixt  them.     2.  This  calling  is  God's  lay- 

*  Not  in  their  right  mind.  t  Furrow, 


11 8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


ing  all  the  elect  over  upon  Christ.  Therefore  the 
Father  has  not  a  personal  oversight  of  the  elect,  they 
are  all  given  to  Christ ;  they  are  all  given  to  the 
Son's  hands.  "  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus''  (i  Tim.  ii.  5).  There  is  not  another  Mediator 
than  He :  neither  the  Father  nor  the  Spirit.  There 
is  not  another  to  answer,  or  compear  personally  for 
us.  The  Father  (so  to  speak)  has  given  all  our  bonds 
and  writs  over  to  the  great  advocate,  Christ  Jesus. 
The  Father  ^eeks,  purposes,  and  pleads  against 
mystical  Christ,  and  cries.  Payment,  or  death : — 
Death  or  payment,  either  from  the  Head  or  the 
members.  But  the  Father  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all  (Isaiah  liii.  6).  Was  only  our  sin  laid  upon 
Christ?  Nay,  He  is  also  made  the  author  of  eternal 
salvation  by  suffering.  Never  such  a  word  is  spoken 
of  the  other  two  glorious  persons,  in  all  the  Book  of 
God.  If  Christ  had  not  given  an  infinite  satisfaction, 
and  payed  the  debt,  none  could  have  attained  salva- 
tion. Works  of  supererogation  will  not  do  the  turn ; 
man's  free  will  cannot  avail.  Nothing  but  the  blood 
of  Jesus  was  able  to  compensate  the  matter. 

3.  The  Lord's  calling  Christ  is  His  giving  Him 
law  on  His  side,  by  a  public  office;  to  teach  as  a 
Prophet,  to  suffer  as  a  Priest,  and  to  subdue,  rule, 
and  defend,  as  a  King.  For  we  may  know  for 
certain,  that  howbeit,  Christ-man  had  a  private  good- 
will to  us,  pitying  our  case,  and  desiring  we  should 
be  set  at  liberty ;  yet  that  would  not  have  done  our 
turn,  except  He  had  been  a  divine  person,  and  given 
the  required  satisfaction.  A  man  may  have  a  good- 
will to  be  cautioner  and  surety  for  another ;  but  if  he 
is  a  rebel  against  the  king,  the  law  cannot  accept  of 
him.    No,  he  cannot  be  accepted  unless  he  be  a  free 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


119 


subject,  and  a  sponsible^  man.  So  Christ  having 
man's  bowels  to  pity  us,  God  gave  Him  law  upon 
His  side,  and  public  authority  against  all  sin.  Here 
is  a  singular  comfort  to  all  weak,  sick,  and  heavy- 
laden  souls.  If  ye  doubt  of  your  salvation,  remember 
that  Christ  by  law,  and  God's  good-will  and  special 
calling,  is  made  and  appointed  a  Mediator  for  you. 
Then  it  is  no  false  pretension  that  Christ  took  your 
plea  in  hand  :  He  has  a  calling  to  it  by  law.  Then  rest 
and  rely  upon  Him  alone  for  salvation.  The  Lord  has 
made  a  resignation  of  you  over  to  Christ ;  and  if  ye 
truly  believe  in  Him  as  He  is  offered  to  you  in  the  ever- 
lasting gospel,  there  is  no  fear  that  He  cast  you  off 
or  that  ye  shall  not  be  saved.  Whoml  He  loves,  He 
loves  unto  the  end.  If  ye  are  His,  He  will  not  lose 
His  right.  Then  boldly  claim  salvation,  forgiveness, 
and  Christ's  righteousness.  It  is  yours  by  God's 
calling;  take  your  own,  and  be  not  driven  from  it 
as  silly  bodies  :  be  not  bostedf  from  salvation,  by 
temptations,  crosses,  and  faithless  fears.  If  you 
believe  in  Christ,  your  rights  are  strong.  Christ 
says,  "  The  Lord  God  called  Me  from  My  mother's 
womb  :"  that  may  be  your  warrant,  to  trust  in  Him 
as  an  all-sufficient  Saviour.  Unbelief,  then,  must  be 
a  great  liar,  and  slighter  of  Christ.  It  says  as  much 
as  Christ  is  not  a  lawful  Saviour,  that  He  came  un- 
called, and  that  His  work  will  not  stand.  See  then 
how  deep  in  sin  thou  art,  O  unbeliever  !  Thou  turnest 
worse  than  a  Jew,  and  say  est  at  the  first,  Christ  is  a 
deceiver,  and  not  a  true  Saviour.  There  is  much 
talking  of  faith;  but  I  wish  it  were  well  kend.J  Alas  ! 
that  it  is  not  better  known. 

'''From  the  bowels  of  my  mother  hath  he  made  men- 

*  Able  to  pay.     +  Driven  by  threats.    %  Known ;  understood 


I30  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


tion  of  my  nameP — The  law  asked  who  should  suffer 
for  man?  It  was  not  content  with  the  general 
answer,  *^A  cautioner  and  surety;"  but  one  behoved 
to  be  named.  So  the  Lord  named  Christ,  and  said  ; 
Talk  no  more  of  that,  there  is  none  other  meet  for 
the  work  but  Mine  own  eternal  Son;  the  Son  of 
God,  and  the  Son  of  man.  And  upon  Christ's  con- 
senting, and  answering  to  His  name,  God  booked 
Him ;  and  writes  it  in  His  holy  word,  that  Christ  is 
Cautioner  for  His  people.  He  was  made  to  undergo 
the  curse  due  to  us,  and  His  name  was  written  in  our 
bond.  An  honest  man,  especially  in  a  high  station, 
will  not  have  his  name  called  in  question  for  a  sum 
of  money.  He  would  rather  pay  the  sum  ere  his 
name  were  heard  in  the  Court.  So,  ere  his  name  be 
heard  for  a  fault  that  deserves  infamy  and  death  by 
the  law,  he  would  rather  die.  But  our  dear  Redeemer 
was  not  so  thin  skinned;  for  His  name  was  within 
our  black  bond,  along  with  the  perjured  man,  the 
adulterer,  ^S^c,  and  justice  laid  hold  on  Him  as  if  He 
had  been  the  transgressor  and  sinner.  He  did  not 
become  the  sinner  actually,  as  the  Antinomians  say, 
else  He  could  not  have  made  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of 
His  people.  It  is  but  a  foolish  conceit  of  theirs  to 
imagine  that  He  was  both  the  sin,  and  the  sacrifice  for 
sin.  No,  instead  of  being  the  sinner,  ^'  He  was  holy, 
harmless,  and  undefiled''  (Heb.  vii.  26).  Yet  (what  is 
matter  of  admiration  and  wonder)  this  Holy  One  did 
undergo  the  full  punishment  that  law  and  justice  did 
require  !  '-He  poured  out  His  soul  unto  death ;  and 
He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors ;  and  He 
bore  the  sins  of  many,  and  made  intercession  for  the 
transgressors"  (Isaiah  liii.  12).  Lo,  hear  His  name  in 
God's  high  count-book,  and  the  Father  cries,  ""  Jesus 
Christ   is   made   sin   for   sinners."      This   is   a  sore 


COMMCXION  SERMONS. 


ditty  f  the  law  of  God's  curse  and  malediction  lighted 
on  Christ !  O  !  The  angels  might  wonder  to  hear 
Christ's  name  called  in  question.  Then  ye  who 
think  much  to  be  spoken  of  for  Christ,  to  be  re- 
proached and  nick-named ;  or  to  have  your  names 
heard  of  before  judges  and  rulers  for  Him  ;  why  do 
>e  so?  He  took  a  blot  on  His  name  for  you!  Christ 
did  not  hang  down  His  head,  nor  think  shame  of 
you  !  He  avows  you  and  your  cause  before  His 
Father.  So  then,  avow  ye  His  name,  Him  and  His 
truth  also,  before  all  the  world.  Take  not  a  back- 
side, hold  not  your  peace,  flee  not  the  place,  when 
His  cause  comes  in  competition,  with  your  name 
being  heard  of  for  Him.  "  It  is  your  honour."  Oh  ! 
That  we  love  ourselves  so  well,  that  we  will  not 
suffer  a  wrong  for  Him  !  Oh  !  Thy  spirit  will  rise  if 
thy  name  is  but  changed.  And  some  of  you  will 
say,  I  thank  God,  none  will  say  that  of  me,  "  But 
a  whore's  son !"  and  I  thank  God,  my  name  is 
known  where  I  dwell.  And  so  is  His  name.  Is  thy 
name  better  known  than  thy  Saviour,  Christ's  ?  Who 
has  the  name  of  King  of  kings  ?  And  yet  His  name 
was  put  in  God's  book  along  with  the  transgressor's. 
Christ  took  a  little  low  style,  as  from  a  lord  or  an  earl 
to  a  good  man.  He  is  aye  called  here,  in  our  country, 
the  Son  of  man.  Many  irreverent  people,  in  the  days 
of  His  flesh,  called  Him  Mary's  son. 

"  Ife  hath  made  my  mouth  like  a  sharp  siuordP — 
Christ  can  shed  blood  with  the  tongue.  (Rev.  i.  i6), 
*'  And  out  of  His  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword, 
that  with  it  He  should  smite  the  nations.''  All  whom 
Christ  slays,  as  Mediator  and  Saviour,  He  slays  them 
with  His  mouth;    for  see  how  sharp  His  sword  is, 

*  Indictment. 


122  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


(Heb.  iv.  1 2),  ^*  The  Word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful, 
and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even 
to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the 
joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  the  heart.''  Woe,  then,  to  them  who 
have  a  heart  of  iron  and  flint,  that  sHps  Christ's  word, 
and  are  never  slain  with  it.  Some  men's  consciences 
are  made  of  iron  ;  let  Christ  strike  they  will  never  stir. 
But  yet  Christ  will  beat  such  men's  consciences  all  to 
flinders,  and  then  they  can  never  be  mended  again. 
But  of  this  afterw^ard. 

It  is  true  some  are  moved  at  the  word,  they  will 
thrust  out  a  tear.  But  I  compare  their  motion  to  a 
strong  physic  on  a  weak  stomach ;  they  are  sick  for  a 
time,  but  incontinently  they  vomit  it  up  again,  and 
are  as  well  as  ever  they  were  again.  So  are  some  men's 
hearts  with  the  word  ;  they  will  be  physic  sick,  but  they 
will  soon  vomit  up  Christ's  physic  again  :  it  goes  not 
out  of  the  kirk-yard  with  them ;  it  abides  not  with 
them  till  the  next  Lord's  day. 

''  He  hath  hid  me  in  the  shadozv  of  His  hand^ — This 
is  a  speech  borrowed  from  a  man  carrying  his  child  in 
his  arms,  in  a  stormy  day,  who  keeps  his  hand  betwixt 
the  child  and  the  blast.  Or,  when  he  is  on  his  knee, 
and  is  too  near  the  fire,  he  holds  his  hand  betwixt  the 
child's  face  and  the  fire,  and  keeps  him  from  burning 
under  the  shadow  of  his  hand.  The  man,  Christ,  was 
made  to  suffer  a  sore  blast  :  a  black  storm  of  the  north 
wind  of  God's  anger  blew  upon  His  fair  face  till  it  was 
like  to  take  all  the  skin  off  it.  God  put  His  hand  be- 
twixt His  face  and  the  fire,  and  preserved  Him  in  the 
shadow  of  His  hand.  And  this  is  nothing  else  but 
God's  protecting  and  defending  Christ  at  His  calling 
as  King,  Priest,  and  Prophet.  '  . 

What  would  have  ye  more  ?     In  all  Christ's  suffer-    j 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


123 


ings,  and  troubles,  God  had  the  man,  Christ,  hidden 
under  the  shadow  of  His  hand.  God  had  a  hearty 
handful  of  Christ,  and  that  two  ways.  Ye  know  often- 
times His  enemies  would  have  been  about  with  Him, 
but  no  man  laid  hands  on  Him,  for  His  hour  was  not 
yet  come.  God  gave  Christ  twelve  hours  in  His  day, 
so  that  He  could  neither  stumble  nor  fall  till  His 
night  came  :  for,  in  despite  of  His  enemies.  He  stayed 
in  the  city  till  He  got  His  turn  done.  They  could  not 
chase  Christ  to  the  fields,  nor  make  Him  flee  the  place. 
He  came  down  to  plead  for  the  life  of  His  Church 
and  her  laws ;  and  made  a  vow  that  He  would  not  go 
home  again  till  He  got  a  decreet,  and  wan  the  plea ; 
and  He  got  that  or  ere  He  rested.  He  was  not  chased 
out  of  the  town  till  He  had  done  His  errand.  Until 
He  had  all  His  silly  ones  brought  out  of  hazard 
and  danger,  and  brought  out  of  hell.  He  wan  not 
up  to  heaven  again.  He  died  not  before  His  time  ; 
He  was  not  like  green  corn,  cut  down  ere  it  be  half- 
ripe.  But  Christ  got  His  fill  of  the  ground,  and  was 
ripe  at  all  will,  ere  ever  the  Lord's  hook  cut  Him  off 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living  :  and  so  He  was  aye  in 
the  shadow  of  the  Lord's  hand. 

But  under  Christ's  last  sufferings,  how  He  was  hid 
under  the  shadow  of  God's  hand  is  harder  to  under- 
stand :  for  Christ  got  justice  and  law,  and  no  mercy. 
But  I  answer. 

I.  That  although  Christ  got  no  sparing  mercy,  yet 
He  got  helping  mercy  under  His  sulierings.  Observe 
it,  for  there  is  need  we  go  attentively  here :  the  ground 
is  somewhat  slippery.  The  Word  says,  "God  spared 
Him  not."  There  was  no  collusion,  or  secret  paction 
betwixt  Christ  and  God's  justice.  Nay,  the  law  would 
not  take  a  composition  from  Christ  for  so  much  and 
forgive  the  rest,  as  if  it  had  been  great  rigour  to  take 


124 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


all.  If  Christ  had  gotten  a  remission,  He  should  have 
got  some  of  the  sweet  Evangel.  Nay,  but  Christ  got 
nothing  but  law,  the  sour  law ;  and  kept  all  the  sweet 
Evangel  to  His  poor  dyvour  friends,  to  poor,  silly,  help- 
less sinners.  Therefore,  Christ  said,  I  will  take  all  the 
sour,  and  ye  shall  get  all  the  sweet.  Nay,  under  de- 
sertion, Christ  could  not  get  a  blink  or  word  of  His 
Father.  Nay,  I  say  more,  God  might  not.  He  could 
not,  as  law  went  then.  Christ  cried,  Is  there  not  a 
word,  dear  Father,  not  a  look  ?  And  He  answers.  No, 
not  a  look  for  a  world.  But  Christ  got  God's  helping 
mercy  :  the  sweet  shadow  of  His  almighty  hand  covered 
Him.  For  God  sent  His  angel  to  comfort  Him,  but 
would  not  come  Himself.  God  gave  Him  armour 
against  all  the  strokes  ;  for  He  had  assurance  that  the 
God-head  and  the  manhood  should  never  sunder.  That 
was  Christ's  great  Charter  that  He  leaned  mickle  to 
in  time  of  trouble. 

2.  He  got  aye  help  sent  Him  from  the  God-head, 
at  every  stroke,  inspiring  Him  with  faith,  strength,  and 
patience  of  soul,  Isaiah  1.  7,  "  Therefore  have  I  set  my 
face  as  a  flint,  and  I  know  that  I  shall  not  be  ashamed." 
Christ's  soul,  because  of  the  personal  union,  was  all  as 
flint.  God  smote,  but  the  arrows  never  pierced  Him  : 
they  only  made  wounds  and  rents  ;  but  the  soul  never 
flew  in  pieces,  nor  was  turned  to  nothing.  But  then, 
How  was  the  matter?  I  say,  Justice  kept  Christ 
from  a  kiss  of  the  God-head.  For  there  were  two 
things  here ;  a.  The  windows  of  the  God-head  were 
closed,  that  neither  the  light  nor  the  heat  thereof, 
shined  in  upon  the  powers  of  Christ's  soul,  b.  All 
the  powers  of  His  human  soul  were  bound  up. 
I.  The  natural  power  of  joy  was  bound  up  like  a 
great  water  dammed  in,  that  none  could  get  a  blyth* 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


125 


look  of  Christ !  for  He  said,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful,  even  unto  death."  2.  The  natural  power 
of  seeing  God  in  the  union  was  restrained.  God  hid- 
ing Himself,  a  black  cloud  of  horrible  fears  was  over 
Christ's  judgment,  that  He  should  then  believe,  but  not 
see  nor  contemplate  the  God-head,  as  before.  3.  That 
power  of  enjoying,  in  all  the  whole  humanity,  and 
sweet  actual  complacency,  and  resting  upon  a  felt 
Lord,  who  was  absent,  was  restrained.  And  yet 
(which  is  a  wonder  of  w^onders)  with  horrible  fear.  He 
had  faith,  and  extreme  love,  with  sadness ;  in  calling 
God  His  Father,  with  strong  cries  and  tears,  admirable 
patience  and  hope,  which  made  Him  long  for  an  open 
window,  to  see  day  light.  Indeed,  though  it  w^as  not 
possible  that  Christ  should  miscarry ;  yet  to  our  ap- 
pearance, our  salvation  was  in  a  venture.  If  Christ 
had  here  gotten  a  wTong  cast,*  and  gone  a  wrong  step; 
then  adieu  to  our  salvation.  But  God  be  thanked,  it 
was  not  a  loose  matter,  nor  loose  hung.  God  had,  all 
this  time,  Christ  and  our  heaven  in  the  hollow  of  His 
hand.  See  then,  whenever  God  sends  Christ,  or  any 
of  His  servants,  an  errand,  He  has  them  aye  hard  and 
fast  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand.  God's  faithful  ministers 
and  professors,  serving  in  a  lawful  calling,  are  all 
here.  If  He  send  you  to  bear  witness,  and  suffer 
for  Him,  He  will  bear  your  charges.  If  He  yokef  you 
against  any  foe.  He  wall  defend  you  :  but  if  ye  go  to 
the  whore,  and  get  an  uncouth |  sickness;  or  go  to  the 
world,  and  seek  your  happiness  there ;  then  you  are 
not  under  the  shadow  of  God's  hand  :  He  will  not 
bear  your  charges.  If  ye  but  yoke  against  any  sin, 
He  will  defend  you ;  but  if  ye  sin  against  Him,  ye 
are  exposed  to  all  the  arrows  in  His  quiver.     Why? 

*  Set.  t  Set  you  to  work,  t  Strange. 


126  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


The  devil  has  employed  you,  and  not  God.  Were 
you  in  God's  service,  your  Master  would  stand  for 
you.  Then  go  on  in  His  service,  and  draw  upon 
Him  for  all  your  expenses.  Christ,  at  the  time  when 
He  stood  at  the  great  bar,  held  by  the  grand  Charter 
in  His  hand,  and  answered. 

Now,  what  can  Christ  not  abide,  and  what  can  He 
not  do  ?  What  can  bits  of  clay  creatures,  rulers  and 
princes,  do  against  Him  ?  Even  He  endured  such  a 
battle !  We  lose  heart  and  courage,  when  we  fear 
matters  go  so  hard  against  God's  ser\dce,  and  His 
truth.  Indeed,  our  unbelief  will  be  saying,  Christ 
suffered  not  such  a  thing  as  God's  wrath.  Know 
ye  what  ye  say  ?  Some  will  say.  We  doubt  not  but 
Christ  can  break  all  His  enemies  in  pieces,  like  as 
many  potsherds  :  but  O,  say  they,  we  fear  we  have  no 
strength ;  we  wot  not  if  He  will  give  us  part  of  His 
strength. 

I  Answer,  Christ's  strength  is  not  to  lie  beside 
Him,  as  the  \vretch's  gold  i"^  it  is  to  give  out  for  His 
kirk.  But  I  must  say  one  thing;  every  professor 
should  try  whether  he  be  in  Christ  or  not.  If  you 
be  not  in  Christ,  this  world  will  blow  you  clean,  clean 
away  from  Him.  Nay,  in  any  trouble,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible you  can  stand  still.  For  this  cause  our  Lord  has 
sent  a  trial,  that  those  who  have  nothing  to  do  with 
Christ  may  be  blown  away.  If  ye  would  suffer  for 
Christ,  slay  your  affections,  and  mortify  your  lusts. 
They  shall  not  be  honoured  with  suffering  who  have 
not  given  sin  its  death's  wounds.  If  ye  would  suffer 
for  Christ,  and  die  for  Him,  ye  must  be  a  member : 
for  a  tree-fleg  suffers  not  when  the  head  bleedeth. 
If  your  heart  be  prepared,  and  if  you  be  resolved  to 

*  The  rrtiser's  money.  t  Wooden. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  127 


see  Christ  get  a  bloody  head  in  His  members,  or  in 
His  cause,  see  that  ye  suffer  with  Him. 

"  He  hath  made  vie  a  sharp  arroiu  ;^^  an  arrow  with 
a  sharp  point.  The  sword  slays  near  at  hand,  and 
the  arrow  kills  afar  off.  They  are  within  Christ's 
bounds  who  are  slain  with  the  sword ;  but  the  arrow 
flies  over  the  devil's  camp,  and  kills  many  on  the 
other  side  of  it.  Therefore,  it  slays  those  who  are 
over  in  Satan's  wilderness,  and  the  wild  beasts  that 
are  in  the  woods.  It  kills  lions,  leopards,  asses,  and 
tigers,  that  is,  men  of  a  wild  and  savage  nature,  and 
makes  them  obedient  to  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  This  arrow  flies  over  to  the  wild  people  of 
America,  and  those  who  are  without  Christ  in  the 
world,  worshipping  the  host  of  heaven.  I  think 
Christ  is  a  keen  hunter;  He  lays  about  Him  with 
His  sword,  and  slays  those  who  are  within  His  reach. 
Those  who  are  half  in  half  owt.  He  pulls  them  in,  and 
takes  them  in  His  arms.  Those  who  are  afar  off, 
over  in  America,  He  bends  His  bow,  and  sends  a 
flight  or  two  of  arrows  amongst  them,  and  the 
wounded  come  mourning  in,  and  say.  Lord,  what 
wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?  But  know  this,  that 
some  in  this  world,  at  whose  conscience  Christ  shoots 
His  arrows,  they  lie  behind  a  dyke,  and  the  arrow 
flies  by  them.  (Matt.  xxii.  5,  6,  Luke  xiv.  18,  19, 
20),  "When  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  had  heard 
the  parable,  they  perceived  that  He  spake  of  them  : 
and  they  sought  to  lay  hands  on  Him."  They  who 
brought  the  woman  taken  in  adultery  (John  viii.  9), 
when  they  heard  Christ  say,  "  He  that  is  without  sin 
among  you,  let  him  cast  the  first  stone  at  her:  being 
convicted  by  their  own  conscience,  went  out  one  by 
one,  beginning  at  the  eldest  even  unto  the  last."  The 
Lord  shot  an  arrow  at  their  consciences,  but  they 


128  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


crouched  and  hid  themselves  behind  a  wall.  See  we 
not  that  the  seventh  command  shoots  an  arrow  at  the 
fleshly  man  ?  he  crouches  by  it  and  runs  to  the  harlot 
The  eighth  command  shoots  an  arrow  at  the  covetous 
man,  and  cries,  Wo  upon  the  oppressor  and  deceiver ; 
and  yet  he  skips  away  by,  crouches  and  goes  after  his 
covetousness.  Nay,  some  wild  beasts  go  away,  and 
the  arrow  sticking  in  them,  and  the  blood  coming  out ; 
but  they  shake  and  fling  out  the  arrow,  the  blood 
drys,  the  wound  closes  up,  and  mends  again.  The 
conscience  of  many  that  God's  arrow  makes  a  hole  in, 
and  causes  them  bleed,  fling  out  the  arrow,  and  the 
wound  mends.  The  devil  can  lay  a  plaister  upon  a 
wounded  conscience,  and  heal  it  again.  See  Acts  vii. 
Some  heard  Stephen  preach,  and  they  saw  his  face 
shine  like  an  angel  of  God ;  and  were  not  able  to 
resist  the  spirit  wherewith  he  spake.  He  calling 
them  stifl*-necked,  and  uncircumcised  in  heart,  and 
casting  up  to  them  their  idolatry,  they  pulled  out 
Christ's  arrow,  and  fell  to  their  idolatry  again,  and 
stoned  Stephen  to  death.  I  love  it  not  when  men 
can  crouch,  and  run  away  from  the  word,  and  find 
excuses,  and  wrestle  a  fall  with  Christ,  and  Eis  word. 
Well,  beware  of  this;  if  ye  wrestle  with  Him  and 
fight  against  His  word,  take  heed  ye  break  not  your 
arm,  and  that  your  shoulder  blade  be  not  out  of  lith.'^ 
But  this  is  not  Christ  the  Mediator's  arrow,  this  is 
His  deaf  arrow.  Our  Lord  Jesus  has  another  arrow 
with  a  thistle  point,  that  He  shoots  at  the  heart  of  His 
elect,  the  Lord  crying  with  its  coming,  ''  Saul,  Saul, 
why  persecutest  thou  MeT'  He  shot  him  off  his 
horse,  and  laid  him  on  the  ground,  that  like  a 
wounded  man,  he  cried,  trembling  and  astonished, 

'  Joint. 


COMMUMON  SERMONS. 


129 


"  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  (Acts  ix.  6). 
Come  near  to  Christ  in  the  word  and  Sacraments. 
Christ  has  now  here,  under  the  elements  of  bread  and 
wine,  a  bended  bow  in  His  hand ;  with  which,  and  by 
the  foolishness  of  preaching  (as  it  is  called  by  men) 
He  is  lying,  as  it  were,  behind  a  dyke,  and  stealing  a 
shot  at  you.  Lord,  send  Him  His  prey  !  The  Lord 
send  you  in  the  gospel  the  thing  you  shall  never  shake 
off  again.  For  know  ye  when  Christ  speaks  to  the 
Elect  there,  there  is  a  sharp  steel-pointed  arrow  in 
the  end  of  His  tongue,  that  will  pierce  sinners  to 
death,  and  lay  them  low.  (Lsaiah  1.  4),  "The  Lord 
hath  given  Me  the  tongue  of  the  learned,  that  I 
should  know  how  to  speak  a  word  in  season  to  him 
that  is  weary."  For  our  Lord  has  good  skill  to  aim  a 
shot  of  His  arrow,  and  drive  it  even  to  the  feather : 
right  to  the  head  in  the  conscience  of  His  own.  See 
when  He  comes  by  ]\Iatthew,  and  says.  Follow  Me ; 
immediately  he  falls  over  like  a  dead  man  :  he  leaves 
his  custom  and  his  count-books,  and  follows  Christ. 
Christ  comes  by  Zaccheus,  sitting  on  a  sycamore  tree 
and  bids  him  come  down  :  He  bends  His  bow,  and 
shoots  an  arrow  at  him,  and  cries,  "Come  do^vn, 
Zaccheus,  for  to-day  I  must  abide  at  thy  house ; "  and 
he  came  down  good  speed;  and  from  his  heart  he 
could  never  pull  out  the  arrow  to  this  day.  Coming 
by  Jacob's  well  at  Samaria,  Christ  bended  His  bow 
and  shot  the  woman  of  Samaria :  she  left  her  water-pot, 
and  came  in  to  the  city  ana  said,  "  Come,  see  a  man 
that  told  me  all  thingL  that  ever  I  did.  Is  not  this 
the  Christ?"  (Acts  ii.)  With  an  arrow  from  Peter's 
mouth,  Christ  shot  three  thousand  at  one  shot :  He 
shot  them  all  with  one  broad  arrow  through  the 
heart :  they  were  pricK'-d  in  their  hearts.  I  think 
Christ,  ever  since  Adam  sinned  in  Paradise,  has 
I 


130 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


been  hunting,  and  until  the  end  of  the  world,  will 
still  be  hunting  and  shooting  wild  beasts.  O  !  but 
He  will  come  to  His  Father  at  night  with  a  rich 
prey:  many  slain  men — many  shot  with  His  arrow. 
It  is  true,  we  think  Christ's  arrow  is  sharp,  and  that 
the  word  of  God  pains  us,  for  we  have  no  wilF  to  a 
bloody  head.  But  we  must  bear  and  suffer  the  word 
of  exhortation.  Christ  will  not  slay  us,  but  will  bind 
up  the  wounds  again  :  His  wounds  are  sweet. 

Now,  we  know  that  when  an  arrow  is  loosed  off, 
and  flies  through  the  air,  if  a  man  sees  it  not  coming 
upon  him,  and  if  it  be  shot  with  pith,  he  cannot 
hinder  it  to  go  through  his  flesh,  or  enter  into  the 
bone.  So  no  man  can  resist  one  of  Christ's  arrows. 
The  enemies  of  God's  grace  say,  that  free  will  is  so 
good  and  hard,  that  it  will  break  the  point  of  an 
arrow,  and  drive  it  back.  I'll  warrant  you  that  free 
will  is  as  hard  as  flint ;  but  if  the  devil  had  put  on  a 
double  corslet  of  proof  upon  the  soul,  Christ's  arrow 
will  go  through  it.  Why?  Because  (Eph.  i.  19, 
Col.  ii.  12),  by  as  great  power  does  Christ  work 
faith  in  us,  as  was  that  omnipotent  power  which 
raised  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead;  and  it  was 
by  the  strong  hand  of  the  Almighty  that  Christ  of 
necessity  behoved  to  be  raised.  And  therefore  they 
are  liars  who  say.  In  conversion,  grace  and  free  will 
start  and  begin  to  run  both  together,  like  two  horses 
at  the  starting  place.  They  lie,  for  God's  grace  has 
the  first  start.  It  breaks  off  first,  and  powerfully  and 
sweetly  draws  our  free  will,  so  that  we  run :  but 
Christ  prays,  calls,  and  gives  us  strength,  and  speed 
of  foot.  It  is  not  here,  as  in  a  ship  equally  belonging 
to  two  merchants,  the  one  half  his,  and  the  other  his  ; 

*  Do  not  like  blood  to  be  drawn. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


^31 


as  if  Christ  did  the  one  half,  by  shooting  the  arrows ; 
and  we  the  other  half,  by  opening  the  windows  of 
our  hearts,  to  let  the  arrows  come  in.  Nay,  all  is 
Clirist's  work ;  His  arrow  drives  up  the  window. 
There  is  no  danger  that  Christ's  arrow  turn  aside 
and  kill  nothing  :  He  is  a  complete  marksman,  and 
will  not  miss.  Nay,  He  waits  not  on  till  our  free 
will  be  in  her  good  blood,  and  well  disposed;  He 
makes  us  well  disposed,  and  draws,  and  runs,  then 
we  run. 

It  is  true,  our  will  is  like  the  stomached  child,  who 
has  taken  offence,  and  will  not  go  near  his  father. 
But  here  Christ  winds  in  His  arrow  near  the  heart, 
and  makes  the  child  love  the  father,  and  come  creep- 
ing in  to  him ;  as  Matthew  and  Zaccheus  did.  Fy 
then  !  If  Christ  be  such  a  tried  Saviour,  lay  mickle 
on  Him :  it  is  a  pity  that  such  a  strong  Saviour  should 
not  be  burdened.  Who  is  here  who  have  not  their 
own  burdens  ?  One  groaning  under  covetousness ; 
another  under  pride,  sweating  with  the  devil's  pack- 
mantle  '.^  a  backful  of  lusts,  running  at  the  devil's 
horse  foot.  Fy  then  !  Ease  yourselves,  and  lay  the 
burden  upon  Christ;  and  yourselves  also.  Now,  I 
say,  debts,  losses,  horses,  sums  of  money,  lands,  &c., 
lay  them  all  upon  Christ. 

I  trow  men  pity  Christ;  they  fear  He  lose.  No^ 
fear  not ;  I'll  warrant  Him  :  He  will  bear  both  you 
and  your  burdens.  Then  let  us  all  burden  Christ ; 
lay  enough  upon  Him ;  come  and  hang  upon  Him. 
O  !  if  all  who  are  in  this  house  would  come  just 
now,  as  fast  as  they  could  win  forward,  and  hang 
all  about  Him,  like  a  hive  of  bees.  Rest  upon  Him, 
about  His  neck,  and  upon  His  arm,  as  birds  upon  a 

*  Cloak  in  which  a  load  is  wrapt  up. 


132 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


branch.  O,  fly  as  doves  to  His  windows,  and  build 
your  nests  in  Him  (Isaiah  Ix.  8). 

"  And  said  unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  ServaniT — Christ 
was  not  indeed  hired  by  any,  but  by  His  Father.  His 
Father  sent  Him  and  He  wan  the  hire,  saved  the 
Kirk,  and  was  very  faithful ;  but  the  world  gave  Him 
the  devil  for  His  thanks.  God  behoved  to  have  ser- 
vice, and  a  hard  piece  of  service  out  of  the  Man, 
Christ ;  even  such  a  service  as  made  Him  sweat  the 
best  blood  of  His  body.  It  was  dear  service  to  Christ 
but  (so  to  speak)  considering  the  way  that  God  had 
laid  down  to  bring  man  to  heaven  and  satisfy  justice, 
it  was  not  possible  that  He  could  get  the  work  done 
without  a  servant.  The  work  would  have  lain,  and 
our  redemption  ceased  for  ever.  Man  nor  angel, 
neither  would  nor  could  look  upon  the  bargain. 
Then  Christ,  God-man,  behoved  to  be  hired,  and 
He  sought  no  wages  of  His  Father,  but  a  Kirk,  a 
seed,  and  the  place  in  glory,  for  Himself  and  His 
which  He  had  with  the  Father  from  eternity.  (John 
xvii.  5.)  From  you  He  seeks  no  hire,  but  faith  and 
obedience ;  and  it  in  a  manner,  breaks  Christ's  heart, 
to  consider  what  service  He  undertook  for  you,  and 
how  coldrife  and  indifferent  ye  are  in  His  service ! 
He  ran  till  He  swat  for  you ;  but  alas !  you  have 
neither  heart  nor  hand  in  His  service.  He  is,  by 
His  infinite  benevolence,  forcing  good-will,  kindness, 
love,  and  friendship  out  of  us  !  but  alas  !  He  comes 
ill  speed.  Men  will  not  want  their  pleasures,  nor 
deny  themselves  for  Him.  Christ  may  say.  Why, 
and  what  ails  you  at  Me  ?  I  veiled  My  glory,  and 
made  Myself  of  no  reputation,  yea  a  curse  for  you  ! 
And  is  this  your  kindness  to  your  Friend  ? 

Truly  men  misken  Christ,  in  His  sufferings.  He 
came  so  far  below  His  place,   was  so  ill  handled, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


^ZZ 


that  they  all  said,  This  is  not  the  Messiah.  Let  me 
see  who  will  come  beneath  their  place,  or  quit  an 
inch  of  their  will,  for  Him ;  or  cast  away  their  lusts, 
deny  this  world's  glory,  and  take  up  their  cross  and 
follow  Him?  He  left  heaven  for  you;  but  ye  will 
not  quit  the  earth  for  Him,  and  yet  there  is  no  com- 
parison betwixt  the  two. 

"  Thoic  art  My  serva?it,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  luill  he 
glorified^ — That  is,  it  is  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  to 
whom  I  will  first  shew  My  glory  :  *^  Go  first  to  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  House  of  Israel."  For  ye  ken, 
when  a  kinsman  is  to  sell  anything,  reason  is  he  give 
his  friend  the  first  offer  before  ever  he  offer  the  bar- 
gain to  any  other.  So  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
sell  Himself  to  man.  But  the  Jews  were  His  brethren 
by  birth  :  He  took  on  Him  the  Jew's  flesh  and  blood, 
for  He  was  a  born  Jew.  So  Christ  said  to  the  Jews, 
Ye  are  My  friends,  ye  shall  get  the  first  offer  of  Me. 
I  will  not  begin  with  the  Gentiles,  till  ye  say  nay. 
Christ  was  even  like  a  great  market  town,  the  ports  =-• 
were  closed  upon  us  poor  Gentiles ;  and  upon  all 
Britain,  while  the  Jews  got  the  morning  of  the  mar- 
ket. But  they  made  few  or  no  bargains  in  the  morn- 
ing :  there  was  no  sale  for  Christ  among  the  Jews. 
Then,  on  the  afternoon,  Christ  bade  open  the  ports, 
and  let  the  poor  Gentiles  come  in.  He  said  to  His 
servants,  Go  your  way,  bid  the  isles  come ;  bid  Scot- 
land and  England,  and  the  land  of  Sinim,  and  the 
utmost  ends  of  the  earth  come.  Wherefore?  The 
Jews  will  not  have  Me :  I  will  bargain  with  the 
Gentiles.  There  was  a  fair,  and  rich  table  covered 
for  the  Jews,  God's  fair  high  board,  and  He  called 
them  to  the  first  mess  :  but  they,  like  daft  bairns,  ran 

*  Gates. 


134 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


to  the  play,  and  had  more  mind  of  their  play  than  of 
their  meat.  They  did  let  their  meat  turn  cold,  and 
ran  after  salvation  in  Moses'  law,  and  would  not  take 
the  new  feast  of  slain  Christ;  but  loathed  at  their 
meat,  and  spilt  Christ's  blood.  He  held  the  cup  of 
His  blood  to  them,  but  they  did  cast  it  all  back  in 
His  face  again.  God  said,  their  by-board*  might 
serve  the  Gentiles :  but  when  the  Lord  saw  that 
Israel  would  have  none  of  Him,  He  shut  out  the 
mislearedt  bairns;  and  turned  them  to  the  broad 
fields  to  shift  for  themselves;  their  Father  scourged 
them  to  the  door,  and  said.  Bring  in  the  poor  hungry 
Gentiles.  Call  in  the  hungry  isles-men,  bring  in  the 
poor,  the  lame,  the  cripples,  and  blind  beggars.  Now, 
Scotland  and  England,  Take  your  meat,  and  eat,  and 
grow.  God  be  thanked  we  got  the  cold  meat:  the 
Lord  did  fetch  us  to  the  first  mess. 

Now  be  not  high-minded,  but  fear.  Learn  a  lesson 
of  the  Jews,  and  be  not  spoilt  bairns.  Eat  your  meat 
and  grow  thereby;  take  this  afternoon's  market  of 
Christ.  But  alas  !  The  fair  is  like  to  skaill:  Alas  ! 
it  is  now  growing  like  old  sour  drink  in  Scotland :  and 
we  are  beginning  to  play  \vith  our  meat.  We  are  now 
beginning  to  clip  Christ's  ordinances,  and  to  add  to, 
and  part  from  His  Testament.  Indeed,  I  think  Scot- 
land is  making  a  quarrel  with  Christ :  they  say,  Our 
religion  is  naked,  and  clipped  like,  wanting  the  busk- 
ing ;§  it  must  have  ceremonies  to  busk  it  with.  The 
gospel  was  sweet  to  us  at  the  beginning;  but  now 
men  have  no  list  ||  to  the  word ;  our  zeal  is  away  and 
dead,  we  have  fallen  from  our  first  love.  Jezebel,  the 
false  prophetess,  and  false  apostles,  are  come  in  among 


Side-table ;  their  leavings.  +  Rude  and  unmannerly. 

X  Empty.         §  Ornaments.  ||   Relish  for. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  135 


US.  It  is  a  marvel,  and  may  be  a  marvel,  if  there  be 
not  bloody  heads  for  this  labour.  I  fear  we  will  be 
sent  to  the  hills,  as  well  as  the  Jews  were :  mourn  for 
the  abominations  of  the  land.  If  ever  ye  awake  till 
the  last  trumpet,  awake  now,  and  look  about  you ; 
and  see  where  Christ  was  hidden ;  even  in  the  hollow 
of  God's  hand.  Flee  to  Him  and  He  shall  hide  you, 
the  members,  there  also. 

*'  TJmi  I  said ^  I  have  laboured  in  vainT — See  Christ 
is  brought  in  here  complaining  of  the  Jews  to  His 
Father.  Take  heed  He  make  not  His  moan  of  Scot- 
land and  England  (for  Britain  is  one  of  the  chief  isles). 
Is  He  not  saying  even  to  you  who  are  here,  Will  ye 
play  Me  the  same  measure  that  the  Jews  played  Me? 
O  play  it  not !  Many  a  dirty  armful  I  had  of  them  ; 
long  did  I  bear  them  in  My  arms,  and  yet  they  gave 
Me  small  thanks.  So  Christ  is  here,  as  it  were,  sorry 
that  He  had  lost  His  travel,  and  spent  the  strength  of 
His  body,  in  seeking  the  Jews,  and  saying,  ^^  Woe  unto 
thee,  Chorazin  !  woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida !"  (Matt,  xi.) 
*' Jerusalem,  Jerusalem"  (Matt,  xxiii.  37).  "And  He 
came  to  His  owti,  and  His  own  received  Him  not.'' 
And  this  complaint  He  bears  to  His  Father ;  He  is 
even,  as  it  were,  saying.  Take  up  the  welcome  the 
house  of  Israel  gave  Me  :  they  pierced  My  hands  and 
My  feet.  And  here  is  a  help  and  encouragement  to 
all  God's  faithful  ministers,  after  their  taking  pains, 
and  having  spent  their  strength  in  vain,  and  seeing 
little  fruit  of  their  labours.  Lo,  here  Christ  in  Isaiah's 
days  making  the  same  complaint. 

There  is  an  ordinary  word  of  the  Papists,  "  If  your 
doctrine  be  the  truth,  where  is  the  power  of  it  ?"  How 
comes  it  that  there  are  so  few  gained  to  Christ  by  the 
power  of  it  ?  Ansiuer.  Surely  the  Jews  might  have 
said  the  same  of  Christ?    If  Ye  be  the  Messiah,  where 


136  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


are  all  who  follow  You  ?  We  see  only  twelve  men  and 
seventy  disciples,  and  some  few  women :  but  what  are 
they  to  all  Israel  and  Judah,  who  are  not  brought  in? 
Christ  says  it  is  very  true,  few  follow  Me,  I  have  spent 
My  strength  in  vain,  and  for  nothing.  What  then  ? 
"  My  reward  is  with  the  Lord."  Jesus  Christ  is  not 
the  worse,  that  few  follow  Him,  that  few  will  take 
Him.  Although  only  two  in  a  kingdom  take  Christ, 
Christ  is  not  to  be  casten  away.  Neither  will  Christ 
rue  because  the  Jews  will  not  take  Him,  or  because 
few  follow  Him.  But  when  Christ  comes  with 
His  sword  and  bow  to  a  land,  if  we,  like  as  many 
wild  beasts,  run  into  the  woods,  and  our  consciences 
flee  into  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth;  one  to  his 
pride,  another  to  his  den  of  covetousness,  a  third 
to  the  wilderness  of  vanity  as  we  do,  and  refuse 
to  abide  the  shot  of  Christ's  bow,  yet  He  will  do 
the  office  of  a  Mediator  and  Saviour,  and  say  of  us 
to  His  Father,  as  He  said  of  the  Jews,  I  have  spent 
My  strength  in  vain  :  and  will  give  in  a  heavy  com- 
plaint of  us  to  His  Father.  And  God  will  read  and 
hear  Christ's  bill,  and  give  Him  justice.  It  will  be 
a  hard  matter,  if  our  Saviour  turn  our  pursuer ;  if  our 
Advocate,  who  should  plead  for  us,  turn  a  complainer, 
plead  against  us,  and  say,  Father,  I  came  to  them, 
and  knocked  till  My  head  was  bedewed  with  rain- 
and  they  would  not  let  Me  in. 

See  then ;  if  Christ  preach,  and  say,  I  got  the  wind 
for  My  pains,  none  were  converted,  it  is  not  the 
power  and  holiness  of  the  preacher  that  convert  men. 
Nay,  men  think  it  is  the  want  of  ministers  that  undoes 
us.  If  I  had  (say  they)  heard  Christ  from  the  pulpit, 
as  Mary  and  Peter  did,  I  would  then  soon  have  been 
converted.  Nay,  Judas  heard  Christ,  but  what  the 
better  was  he  ?     I  grant  if  a  minister  be  not  called. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  137 


and  graced  with  God's  Spirit  to  preach,  he  who  made 

him  a  preacher  might  as  well  have  made  a  swine-herd 
of  him.  But  when  God's  chosen  servants  cast  out 
the  net,  they  take  not  aye  in  fish.  Christ  went  through 
the  seas,  and  shot  His  Hues  seeking  fishes,  and  some- 
times caught  nothing.  Peter  (Acts  ii.)  shot  his  Hne, 
and  catched  three  thousand.  What  is  the  want  of 
success,  but  God's  saying,  It  is  not  the  preacher,  but 
the  Spirit  of  God  that  does  it  ?  Then  call  no  man 
Rabbi :  we  take  God  to  witness,  that  we  would  have 
you  off  our  hand.  We  say  not,  Christ  is  only  with  us. 
Read  the  King's  letter,  carry  it  who  will,  if  they  have 
God's  calling.  And  yet  I  tell  you  it  is  possible  when 
Christ  preaches,  your  tide  of  conversion  is  not  yet 
come ;  may  be  it  is  not  marrying  time ;  it  is  not  time 
to  shake  the  tree.  Ye  have  not  gotten  play  enough 
yet,  and  therefore  no  marvel  ye  are  not  yet  converted. 
Will  not  one  fisher  fish  a  pool,  roll  over  the  streams, 
and  get  nothing ;  and  another  of  less  skill  may  come 
and  catch  the  fishes  ? 

'^  I  have  laboured  VI  vain'^ — When  Christ  came  to 
the  world  in  His  flesh  and  preached ;  did  they  receive 
Him  as  Mediator?  He  had  no  greater  errand  in  the 
world;  all  was  against  Him.  In  His  cradle  they 
sought  His  life  ;  He  had  as  many  sore  temptations  in 
the  world  as  He  had  even  of  the  devil  himself.  Nay 
the  world  so  tempted  Him,  in  His  calling,  that  He 
and  they  were  aye  at  holding  and  drawing.  They 
could  never  agree  any  time.  What  ailed  them  at 
Him?  for  He  came  a  good  en^and  to  the  world,  to 
bring  them  home  to  His  Father.  He  wronged  no 
man,  yet  they  say  He  is  a  deceiver.  The  best  work 
that  could  be,  was  to  forgive  sins  :  yet  they  called 
that  blasphemy.  They  mistook  the  casting  out  of 
devils.     No,   say   they,    He   has   the    master    devil, 


138  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Beelzebub,  the  captain  of  all  the  rest,  who  commands 
all  the  little  ones,  and  by  him  He  casts  out  devils. 
And  they  slew  the  Heir,  and  cast  Him  out  of  the 
inheritance.  So  if  Christ  found  the  world  a  hard  bed, 
I  think  all  His  friends  have  cause  to  think  so  of  it  too. 
For  badly  were  His  friends  treated.  Jeremiah  cries 
out  (xv.  10),  "Woe  is  me,  my  mother,  that  thou  hast 
born  me,  a  man  of  strife,  and  a  man  of  contention  to 
the  whole  earth."  All  the  people  cursed  Jeremiah : 
and  see  how  the  apostles  were  treated,  and  what  they 
met  with,  i  Cor.  iv.  11,  12,  13,  "Even  unto  this 
present  hour  we  both  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  are 
naked,  and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no  certain  dwelHng 
place ;  and  labour,  working  with  our  own  hands : 
being  reviled,  we  bless;  being  persecuted,  we  suffer 
it ;  being  defamed,  we  entreat :  we  are  made  as  the 
filth  and  offscourings  of  the  world : — We  become  all 
things  to  all  men." 

Was  not  that  a  sad  welcoming,  that  He  and  His 
got  in  the  world  ?  Christ  owned  all  His  members  : 
but  they  will  be  flouted  at,  and  gloomed^  at  here. 
Ye  know  the  mother  will  not  let  her  o\vn  child 
want;  but  cares  not  how  long  her  step-bairns  be 
both  naked,  and  starving  for  hunger,  because  she  is 
a  step-mother.  So  the  world  is  a  step-mother  to 
Christ,  and  all  His  children;  it  cares  not  to  see 
them,  naked,  poor,  and  hungry,  persecuted  and  heart- 
broken. 

I  like  it  not,  when  the  world  handles  you  as  her 
own  children,  and  casts  a  piece  to  you  when  ye 
weep.  Better  be  God's  sons,  and  the  world's  step- 
bairns,  than  the  world's  daties.f  I  love  it  not  ill  that 
all  God's  children  get  a  hard  bed,  and  ill  cheer  in 

*  Fro\^Tied  upon.  f  Darlings. 


COMMUNIOISr  SERMON'S.  139 


this  world.  Christ  had  not  a  house  amongst  them : 
they  would  not  give  Him  a  drink  of  water  in  His 
thirst :  they  would  not  welcome  Him  and  His  doc- 
trine :  they  gave  Him  but  cold  cheer  when  He  came 
to  the  house  of  His  friends.  David  was  once  that 
he  could  neither  get  bread  nor  water  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  said,  he  was  a  sojourner  here,  as  all  his 
fathers  were.  Abraham  dwelt  in  tents;  and  Jacob 
was  a  herd  to  Laban,  a  broken  stranger,  and  was 
glad  to  lodge  in  the  fields,  with  a  stone  under  his 
head  for  a  pillow.  Israel  lodged  forty  years  in  the 
^^dlderness,  like  the  beggars,  not  two  nights  in  one 
place.  Moses  wanted  father  and  mother  to  bring 
him  up.  Christ  and  His  disciples  could  not  get 
lodging  in  Samaria.  Woe  worth  Esau,  but  the  world 
plays  him  a  slip,  and  makes  him  sell  his  birth-right 
for  his  breakfast.  I  think  all  God's  children  may 
call  the  world  an  uncouth'^*  inns  :  but  they  must  e'en 
take  it  as  they  get  it,  as  their  Master  before  them 
did. 

Let  us  carry  ourselves  like  the  good  natured 
stranger,  who  resolves  never  to  quarrel,  nor  fight 
with  his  host;  howbeit  his  meat  be  ill,  and  his 
reckoning  dear,  and  he  have  to  sleep  on  a  straw 
bed.  He  says.  What  the  matter,  for  all  my  time,  I 
will  never  make  a  noise  about  it  :  I  am  but  to  stay 
for  a  night.  Surely  Christ  and  His  Spouse  get  but  a 
cot-house,  and  a  straw  bed  here.  See  ye  not  how  all 
the  wicked  have  their  horns  out  against  Him  and 
His  silly  lambs.  They  are  chasing  them  from  one 
kingdom  to  another,  and  hunting  them  out  at  the 
town's  end;  just  as  if  ye  saw  a  poor  man  going 
through  a  town,  sad,  weary,  and  hungry ;  this  black- 


Strange,  foreign. 


I40  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


guard  and  that  blackguard  hound  their  dogs  at  him ; 
the  poor  man  is  glad  to  get  away  with  a  whole  skin. 
Christ  and  His  dear  children  are  going  through  this 
world,  sad,  weary,  and  heart-broken ;  and  the  in- 
dwellers  of  this  city  send  out  all  their  dogs  after 
them.  O,  if  ye  were  at  home.  O  fy !  sleep  not  in 
this  dear  inns.  I  dare  say,  Cain,  Saul,  and  Judas 
have  not  reason  to  speak  good  of  it,  but  to  say  as 
men  say  of  a  dear  bargain :  Woe  be  to  it,  we  spent 
much  on  it,  but  got  little  good  in  it.  Esau  may  say, 
I  lost  my  soul  for  a  breakfast  in  it.  Judas  may  say, 
Woe  worth  it;  for  I  lost  my  soul  in  it,  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver.  All  men  may  say.  We  got  a  crack 
in  our  conscience  for  our  pleasures,  and  all  was  but 
vanity ;  a  broken  tooth,  a  snow  ball,  a  feather.  Alas  ! 
That  we  love  it  so  well,  make  it  our  darling  and  sit 
down  upon  it.  Elijah  was  a  heart-broken  man,  and 
would  fain  have  been  out  of  the  world.  Job  was  in 
it  like  an  old  ship,  that  gets  a  dash  on  this  rock  and 
that  rock ;  and  would  fain  have  been  hidden  in  the 
grave.  Daniel  was  a  poor  persecuted  man,  and  a 
captive  under  the  enemy's  feet.  And  what  should  I 
say  of  the  rest  ?  They  all  got  ill  cheer  in  the  world. 
See  Heb.  xi.  38,  "  Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy; 
they  wandered  in  deserts,  and  in  mountains,  and  in 
dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,"  and  there  had  no  light. 
John  the  Baptist  lived  in  the  wilderness,  a  friendless 
man  ;  and  at  last  they  took  off  his  head. 

It  is  good  if  the  old  ship  comes  in  at  the  port,  ere 
she  be  driven  all  to  flinders.  If  a  man  was  riding 
through  his  enemies,  and  every  one  shooting  at  him, 
he  would  spur  his  horse  fast,  till  he  came  in  to  his  own 
ground.  I  think  the  believer's  poor  soul  is  like  a  ship 
among  rocks  ;  it  gets  dash  after  dash.  O  that  we  were 
in  Christ's  good  sea-room,  then  we  should  defy  them  all. 


COMMUMON  SERMONS.  141 


"  Yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord,  and  my 
work  luith  my  God.^^ — Lest  men  should  think  Christ 
did  rue  the  bargain,  lo,  here  He  sorrows  not,  nor  rues. 
He  says  not,  Let  Israel  go  to  hell !  No;  but  My  con- 
science says  to  Me,  I  have  done  the  work,  and  My 
God  will  reward  Me.  So,  then,  in  a  temptation,  when 
ye  are  ill  handled  by  the  world,  when  ye  have  a  sore 
heart,  and  ye  cannot  get  matters  as  ye  w^ould  have 
them,  fear  not ;  a  good  conscience  will  get  comfort. 
When  the  people  were  wrong  (i  Samuel  xii.  3),  and 
^\Tonged  Samuel,  they  would  have  another  judge, 
he  mends  himself  well,  and  says,  ''  Whose  ox  or  ass 
have  I  taken ;  or  whom  have  I  defrauded  ? "  Job 
xvi.  19,  when  he  was  tempted  by  his  friend,  said, 
**  My  witness  is  in  heaven,  and  my  record  is  on  high." 
And  David,  when  He  was  accused  of  treason  by  Saul, 
when  he  might  not  clear  himself,  prays  (Psalm  vii. 
3,  5),  ''  O  Lord,  my  God,  if  I  have  done  this ;  if 
iniquity  be  in  my  hands ;  let  the  enemy  persecute  my 
soul." 

That  which  is  called  a  good  conscience  is  like  a 
glass,  wherein  a  man  may  see  his  face.  Whereas, 
the  wicked  have  a  conscience  like  a  foul,  muddy 
fountain,  where  the  bottom  cannot  be  seen.  Nay, 
he  dare  not  in  a  heavy  temptation,  or  in  death,  go 
into  his  conscience ;  for  it  is  hke  a  smoky  house  all 
full  of  reek,  that  a  man  who  hath  tender  eyes  cannot 
abide  it,  nor  be  able  to  hold  up  his  head  in  it.  But 
when  all  the  people  are  cursing  Jeremiah,  and  he 
thinks  he  has  a  hard  lot  of  it,  he  goes  into  his  con- 
science, and  takes  it  before  the  Lord,  and  says,  "  Thy 
words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat  them;  and  Thy  word 
was  unto  me  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  my  heart"  (Jer. 
XV.  16).  Now,  I  think  the  wicked  man^s  conscience 
is  like  a  dung-hill,  all  full  of  filth ;  he  dare  not,  he 


142 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


cannot  take  it  up  :  his  old  adulteries ;  his  old  rotten 
falsehood  that  he  committed  twenty  years  ago.  So 
his  thefts,  his  blood-shed,  his  covetousness,  his  oppres- 
sion, his  backbiting,  and  his  wrongs  done  to  this  man 
and  that  man,  are  such  nauseous  things,  that  he  dare 
not  turn  them  up,  for  fear  they  cause  him  vomit. 
When  Judas  looked  into  his  conscience,  he  wakened 
a  sleeping  lion ;  for  out  came  falsehood  to  his  Master; 
out  came  blood-shed ;  and  out  came  love  to  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  like  three  furious  lions,  and  devour 
and  tear  him  to  pieces.  See  that  ye  keep  your  con- 
sciences void  of  offence  tow^ards  God  and  man. 

Make  your  life  a  fine,  good,  and  sound  building, 
reared  up  upon  a  good  foundation,  for  the  time  to 
come  :  that  when  your  life  is  ended,  and  your  work 
done,  you  need  not  think  shame  of  your  Avork.  But 
you  must  not  essay  this  on  your  own  strength,  for  that 
will  be  of  no  avail ;  but  only  in  the  strength  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  Divine  aid.  It  is  in  the  Lord  only  that 
there  is  righteousness  and  strength.  Man's  free  will 
is  not  able  to  effectuate  a  saving  change  upon  any 
person.  You  might  as  well  say  that  the  Ethiopian 
could  change  his  skin,  and  the  leopard  his  spots. 

But,  oh !  woe's  me  to  see  so  many  men  land 
masters  of  their  consciences :  as  if  their  conscience 
was  so  great  that  they  might  sell  part  of  it  in  fairs  and 
markets  to  the  best  bidder.  Some  count  little  of  their 
conscience :  they  will  take  an  edge  thereof  to  aug- 
ment their  house.  Another  Avill  dispense  with  part 
thereof  to  enlarge  his  possession.  Another  will  part 
with  half  of  his  conscience  to  enhance  his  credit. 
Many  pay  little  respect  to  their  conscience  in  buy- 
ing and  selling  if  they  can  get  gain.  The  mer- 
chant wastes  his  conscience;  for  before  he  quit  an 
inch  of  his  credit,  he  would  rather  quit  an  ell   of 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


143 


his  conscience.  The  proud  man  wastes  his  conscience, 
to  carry  on  his  pride.  Many  now,  for  the  world,  and 
the  standing  of  their  estate,  can  sell  both  goods,  truth, 
and  three  or  four  ells  of  their  conscience.  Thus  the 
kirk-man  wastes  his  conscience ;  as  if  his  conscience 
were  a  long  web  of  an  hundred  ells ;  he  may  throw 
away  part  thereof,  and  it  never  be  missed.  And  ken 
ye  what  some  men  have  now  devised?  They  have 
devised  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  indifferent  things, 
indifferent  truths  in  religion ;  and  think  that  they  may 
sell  twenty  stone  weight  of  them,  and  have  enough 
behind.  But  in  Moses'  days  truth  was  scarcer : 
Moses  behoved  to  make  all  things  according  to  the 
pattern  he  saw  in  the  mount :  and  he  would  not  leave 
a  hoof  behind.  But  it  is  a  wealthier  world  now  !  We 
have  broad  fair  fields,  broad  and  long  indifferent 
things :  we  may  sell  acres  of  them  good  and  cheap. 
But  how  any  thing  lawful,  or  unlawful,  can  be  in- 
different, we  have  yet  to  learn.  Sin  is  still  sin,  and 
truth  truth  ;  and  none  of  them  a  matter  of  indifferency. 
Lord,  help  this  nation  to  prepare  for  the  awakening 
storm  that  is  coming  to  bring  us  to  our  right  senses. 
And  I  pray  you,  take  His  word  along  with  you,  as  a 
means  of  preparation.  Keep  your  conscience  clean 
and  undefiled.  Christ  kept  His  conscience  to  the 
latter  end  of  the  day,  till  He  had  spent  His  strength, 
done  His  work,  and  finished  His  talk ;  and  then  He 
got  joy  of  it.  Keep  your  conscience  pure,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  the  end  of  your  day :  for  a  clear  conscience 
in  a  dying  hour,  will  give  more  satisfaction  than  all 
that  this  world  can  afford.  And  beware  of  the  devil's 
or  the  world's  hammer  of  covetousness,  lest  it  light 
on  your  conscience,  and  break  it  all  to  pieces  :  and 
then  see  how  all  the  craft  ye  have  will  mend  it  To 
God  only  wise,  be  praise.     Amen. 


SERMON        VII.*'' 

Then  said  I,  I  iv ill  not  feed  you :  that  that  dieth,  let  it  die;  and 
that  that  is  to  be  cut  off,  let  it  be  cut  off ;  and  let  the  rest  eat 
every  one  the  flesh  of  another^  ^c. — Zech.  xi.  9,  10,  1 1,  12, 


BELOVED  in  our  Lord,  this  text  is  Christ's  fare- 
well to  the  Church  of  the  Jews.  He  is,  as  it 
were,  half  out  at  the  door,  leaving  His  harlot  wife ; 
and  saying  to  her,  Seek  ye  another  husband,  and  I 
will  seek  another  wife  :  and  so  He  bids  her  adieu. 
The  words  contain, 

1.  Christ's  good-night :  *^  I  will  not  feed  you  J^ 

2.  A  fruit  of  His  farewell :  ''  That  that  dieth,  let  it 
dier 

3.  The  manner  of  His  departing  from  them  :  "  / 
took  My  staffs  and  ait  it  asunder. ^^ 

4.  What  followed  upon  that :  "  The  poor  of  the  flock 
that  waited  upon  Me  knew  that  it  was  the  word  of  the 
Lordr 

5.  Ere  He  go  clean  away,  and  give  over  His  calling, 
He  says.  Pay  me  my  bygones  if  "'Give  me  my  price '^ 

6.  They  gave  Him  for  His  price,  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  to  buy  Him,  that  they  might  get  Him  crucified. 

7.  He  is  sorry,  is  offended,  or  grudges  the  price, 
and  says,  "  Cast  it  into  the  potter :  a  goodly  price  that  / 


*  Preached  at  a  Communion  in  Anwoth,  in  the  year  1 634. 
+  What  is  due  to  Me  far  the  past. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


MS 


was  prized  at  of  thefn.^^  As  if  He  had  said,  Give  it  to 
your  beggars  and  strangers,  to  buy  a  burial  place 
for  them  :  for  I  will  have  none  of  your  wages,  if 
that  be  all  you  will  give  Me.  And  so  the  Lord's 
wages  was  casten  back  again  into  the  potter's  field, 
to  buy  it. 

I.  '^  Then  said  I,  I  will  7iot  feed  you T — Here  is  a 
terrible  word,  and  a  hard  threatening  spoken  by 
Christ,  the  great  Shepherd,  sent  of  the  Father,  to 
gather  in  His  own  sheep.  "I  will  feed  you  no  more." 
Beware,  O  people  of  Anwoth,  lest  He  be  saying  this 
unto  many  of  you ;  for  your  want  of  love  to  Him, 
and  slighting  His  ordinances  with  the  means  of  salva- 
tion and  mercy  offered  unto  you.  Hence  we  may 
observe,  that  when  Christ  has  gathered  in  all  His  own 
sheep,  all  His  own  elect  children  and  people.  He 
sometimes  gives  them  up  for  a  season.  This  prophecy 
has  a  relation  to  that  time,  after  Christ's  death  and 
ascension,  when  the  Apostles  left  the  church  of  the 
Jews,  and  turned  themselves  to  seek  and  suit  a 
young  wife  for  their  Master,  even  the  church  of  the 
Gentiles. 

Even  in  Abraham's  days,  when  it  was  but  morning, 
and  the  beginning  of  days,  the  Lord  began  to  feed 
His  sheep,  and  sent  Moses  and  Aaron  to  herd  them 
in  the  wilderness  :  and  sent  prophets  and  servants  to 
His  vineyard,  with  an  order  to  say.  Render  fruit;  send 
in  the  rent  of  your  farm  to  My  Father.  But  they  slew 
and  stoned  the  prophets  (Matt,  xxiii.  37).  Then  H3 
sent  other  servants  unto  them,  and  they  beat  them. 
At  length  He  sent  the  King's  own  Son,  the  Heir  and 
Lord  of  all,  to  them ;  and  they  slew  Him.  And  He 
sent  the  apostles  last  of  all,  and  they  persecuted  and 
killed  them  (Matt.  xxi.  36,  37,  38,  39).  All  this  time 
Christ  was  gathering  in  His  own  sheep,  for  Christ  will 

K 


146  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


want  none  of  them.  And  when  Christ  had  gotten  in 
all  the  lost  money,  even  all  to  the  last  farthing;  then 
He  blows  out  the  candle,  and  cares  not  for  the  rest, 
but  says.  Take  ye  the  sweepings  of  the  house  and 
cast  them  away;  I  have  got  My  own.  Wherefore 
holdeth  a  great  man  a  house  ?  It  is  not  to  entertain 
beggars  and  strangers :  they  get  a  bit,  or  a  meal  in 
the  by-going,  which  is  all  their  errand  to  the  house. 
But  He  holds  His  house  to  entertain  His  children 
and  servants  in  :  and  were  it  not  for  them.  He  would 
give  up  house-keeping.  When  Christ's  children  are 
grown  up,  and  married  to  their  new  husband;  and 
when  His  sheep  are  gathered  into  His  fold,  sealed 
and  marked ;  and  when  there  are  but  strangers  with- 
out ;  then  He  gives  up  house-keeping,  locks  the  door, 
and  says.  He  will  feed  them  no  more. 

Hence  also,  here  is  a  spark  of  hope  to  those  who 
fear  Christ.  If  He  say  to  this  land,  I  will  feed  you 
no  more ;  yet  there  is  in  the  land  children  and  sheep 
to  be  fed.  Ye  shall  aye  get  your  meat  of  it,  go  as  it 
will.  Though  ye  should  be  hounded  and  scattered 
from  mountain  to  mountain;  and  though  the  dogs 
should  bark  at  you ;  yet  Christ  must  feed  the  poor  of 
the  flock,  till  He  get  them  out  from  among  the  rest. 
And  therefore  eat  ye  now,  and  take  the  meals  that 
your  Lord  sends  you,  with  good  will :  it  is  for  you 
that  God  feeds  the  flock.  It  is  not  for  the  rocks  and 
the  mountains,  that  God  sends  down  rain ;  it  is  for 
the  grass  and  the  corn. 

2.  The  fruit  of  Christ's  departure  :  says  He,  "  T/iat 
that  dtet/i,  let  it  dieP — This,  no  doubt,  is  hard.  Lord, 
if  you  feedest  us  not,  we  will  die,  we  will  be  hounded 
and  slain  upon  the  mountains.  Yea,  I  know,  says 
Christ,  it  shall  be  so  :  but  I  shall  be  blameless ;  I 
shall  give  up  with  you,  and  lay  down  My  calling.     , 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


147 


Hence,  we  see  what  follows,  when  Christ  turns  His 
back  on  the  sheep.  They  die,  they  perish,  they  eat 
one  another's  flesh  for  hunger.  For  not  only  were 
those  people  made  vagabonds  upon  the  earth,  as  they 
are  at  this  day ;  but  their  souls  famish,  and  they  are 
groping  in  darkness  for  the  coming  of  another 
Messiah.  So  we  see  when  Christ,  the  Shepherd, 
goes  away,  the  fox,  the  lion,  the  wolf,  and  all  the 
dogs  of  hell,  come  and  run  away  with  the  flock. 
For  this  is  Satan's  way,  when  Christ  has  gone  away, 
pulled  down  the  Shepherd's  tents,  removed  a  preach- 
ing ministry,  and  taken  His  flock  with  Him.  The 
leavings  and  the  goats  must  fall  to  the  lion.  The 
devil  gets  Christ's  leavings;  what  God  refuses,  by 
law  falls  to  the  devil :  when  Christ  has  gotten  in 
His  wheat,  then  Satan  comes  and  takes  up  the  loose 
sheaf  AVoe  to  you  who  are  not  in  Christ's  bundle, 
but  fall  out  and  lie  in  the  field,  and  will  not  be 
gathered  into  Christ's  bam,  for  ye  are  the  devil's  by  law. 

Then,  ere  we  proceed  further,  let  every  one  try 
whose  side  they  are  on.  Ye  cannot  deny  that  Christ 
is  at  His  harvest,  and  gathering  in  His  sheaves  in 
this  land.  See  whose  mark  and  arms  you  carry :  ye 
must  carry  either  God's  or  the  devil's.  See  whether 
ye  be  in  Rome's  black  camp,  wherein  the  fallen  star, 
the  red  dragon,  and  the  prince  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
are  the  captains.  For  Christ  is  now  mustering  His 
men,  and  proclaiming,  Who  is  for  Me,  and  who  is 
for  battle?  Some  are  saying,  God  help  us,  for  we 
know  not  which  of  the  sides  is  rightest :  ye  say  one 
thing,  and  they  say  another.  If  ye  say,  '^  I  am  indif- 
ferent;" I  like  not  that.  Ye  will  get  a  master  ere 
long.  Satan,  by  his  due,  gets  the  wandered  sheep;  I 
mean  the  indifferent  man,  or  him  who  is  on  none  of 
the  sides. 


148  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Many  temporal  evils  come  upon  a  people,  when 
Christ  says,  "  /  will  feed  you  7io  7nore,^^ — Multitudes 
who  heard  Zechariah,  would  be  glad  at  this,  "  I  will 
feed  you  no  more/^  They  would  say.  We  will  get 
the  good  old  lucky  world  again :  when  we  baked 
cakes  to  the  queen  of  heaven  we  wanted  nothing : 
we  will  get  quit  of  that  which  the  barking  prophets 
are  aye  crying :  "  The  burden  of  the  Lord,  the  burden 
of  the  Lord."  So  say  our  people.  If  this  religion  were 
away  we  will  get  the  Igood  old  merry,  sonsy^  world 
again,  wherein  there  was  much  luck  and  grace. 

Then  let  our  text  answer  you  both.  So  then,  would 
you  have  the  old  lucky,  sonsy  world  again?  Then 
take  it  to  you  out  of  God's  mouth ;  ''  Ye  shall  eat 
every  one  the  flesh  of  another,"  when  the  gospel  goes 
away.  God  said  then;  Devil,  anti-Christ,  Jesuite, 
pestilence,  famine,  and  sword,  set  on  them  !  I  have 
done  with  them.  The  Romans,  sword,  and  famine, 
did  devour  them.  Will  a  mother  eat  her  own  child 
of  a  span  long  for  hunger  ?  yet  this  was  done.  That 
was  the  old  world  the  Jews  got  when  Christ  turned 
His  back  upon  them.  For  this,  see  Jer.  xxv.  17, 
When  the  people  rejected  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
put  it  from  them,  as  we  are  doing,  the  Lord  put  in 
Jerusalem's  and  Judah's  hand  the  cup  of  the  wine  of 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  bids  them  drink,  and  spue,  and 
fall,  and  never  rise  again.  Now  what  think  ye  of  this 
old  sonsy  world  ?  See  also  Psalm  Ixxiv. ;  when  God 
left  feeding  His  sheep,  in  came  the  enemies,  warred, 
burnt  the  sanctuary,  &c.  And  when  God  left  the 
flock  (Psalm  Ixxix.  2),  the  dead  bodies  of  His  servants 
are  given  for  meat  to  the  fowls  of  heaven.  And  see 
what  follows  on  God's  departure  (Ezek.  viii.  9,  10,  11, 

'  Plump  and  thriving. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


149 


and  xii.  13).  The  prince  shall  flee  away  on  his  feet, 
with  his  flitting  upon  his  back.  *^  I  will  spread  my 
net  upon  him,  and  he  shall  be  taken  in  my  snare :  and 
I  will  bring  him  to  Babylon.''  They  shall  be  taken 
as  birds,  &c. 

3.  '^  And  I  took  7ny  staffs  rue7i  beauty^  and  ad  it  asunder^ 
that  I  might  break  my  covejiant  luhich  I  had  made  with 
all  the  peopled — Here  there  are  three  things,  i.  What 
the  staff  is.  2.  The  name  of  it,  Beauty.  3.  The  Lord's 
breaking  of  it. 

I  shall  go  no  further  to  seek  the  meaning  of  it. 
The  breaking  of  the  staff  is  the  breaking  of  the  cove- 
nant: the  staff  itself  is  the  word  of  God  and  covenant. 
And  indeed  the  word  of  God  is  Christ's  shepherd's 
staff,  whereby  He  driveth  His  sheep  to  heaven,  and 
awakes  the  conscience.  For  Christ  has  no  rod  over 
the  neck  of  His  sheep  but  His  word;  it  is  His 
sceptre.  Christ's  strength,  in  bringing  in  His  sheep 
is  in  His  word,  for  it  is  His  sceptre  ;  and  therefore  it 
is  called.  The  Lord's  arm  (Isaiah  liii.  i).  And  an 
arm  must  have  a  hand  and  fingers.  It  is  even  that, 
whereby  He  wrestles  with  His  enemies,  with  sinners, 
when  He  makes  them  saints  :  and  no  man  dare 
separate  them.  The  devil  would  fain  separate  Christ 
and  the  soul,  when  they  are  wrestling  a  fall ;  but 
Christ  gives  him  a  back-stroke,  and  with  His  staff  can 
wound  the  conscience  of  one  who  has  seven  devils, 
and  can  cause  them  fall  under  Him.  But  know,  our 
Lord  useth  this  sort  of  staff  against  several  sorts  of 
men,  wherein  ye  shall  see  the  use  of  it. 

a.  Christ  casts  His  staff  at  many,  and  it  misses 
them,  for  the  pikes  of  it  go  no  more  in  the  conscience 
of  some  men  than  a  pointless  arrow  in  a  wall  of 
brass  (Ezek.  iii.  7).  Are  there  not  many  who  are 
no  more  moved,  nor  touched  with  the  sharp  point  of 


150  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Christ's  staff  than  a  dead  man  is  with  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet  blown  in  his  ear?  The  word  never  draws 
blood  in  their  consciences,  they  can  fence  and  ward 
their  souls  from  a  stroke. 

b.  Some  get  a  blad^  and  a  bleaf  stroke  in  their 
conscience,  as  trembling  Felix  did,  and  despairing 
Cain,  and  others  got.  But  the  devil  heals  their 
wounds;  as  Cain  got  a  plaster  on  his  wound,  and 
went  and  built  a  city.  See,  for  this,  Hosea  vi.  There 
ye  see  how  our  Lord  blads  and  strikes  with  His  staff. 
Verse  5,  He  says,  ''  I  have  hewed  them  in  pieces  by 
My  prophets,  and  slain  them  by  the  words  of  My 
mouth.'*  There  was  blea  wounds  in  their  conscience 
made  by  Christ's  staff.  But  what  then?  Verse  7, 
^'But  they  like  men  have  transgressed  the  covenant." 
They  mended  again,  after  Christ's  staff  had  wounded 
their  conscience. 

c.  Some  get  a  dead  stroke  with  Christ's  staff.  It  is 
a  dead  trumpet  to  them,  and  cries  nothing  to  them 
but  God's  curse  and  malediction ;  i  Peter  ii.  8 ; 
2  Cor.  X.  6,  "  Christ  is  to  them  a  stone  of  stumbling 
and  rock  of  offence,  even  to  them  that  stumble  at  the 
word,  being  disobedient  thereunto."  Christ  strikes 
with  the  rod  and  strength  of  His  power  :  "  He  strikes 
through  kings,  and  fills  the  high-ways  with  dead 
bodies  "  (Psalm  ex). 

d.  The  Lord's  own  sheep  get  a  wound  in  their 
consciences  with  the  staff.  Beauty,  as  when  He  cries, 
*^Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me?"  Saul  bled 
with  the  pikes  of  the  staff,  so  that  the  law,  and  the 
curses  and  terrors  of  it  drew  him  off  his  high  horse, 


*  A  blow. 

t  A   stroke  that  makes  them  black  and  blue.     Old  Gamn 
Douglas  uses  this  expression. 


COMMUMON  SERMONS. 


151 


and  made  him  lie  on  the  breadth  of  his  back ;  so  that 
he  cried,  **Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?" 
Christ,  with  His  staff,  struck  three  thousand  at  once, 
until  they  were  pricked  in  their  hearts  (Acts  ii.  37). 
And  they  cried,  for  their  consciences  were  driven  all 
to  flinders,  saying,  "  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we 
do  to  be  saved  ?  "  Lydia  got  such  a  back-stroke  with 
the  pikes  of  this  staff,  that  Christ,  with  infinite  power, 
brake  up  all  the  locks  of  her  heart,  till  it  was  made  to 
receive  the  word.  Then  know  ye  when  God's  word 
strikes  the  conscience  ?  If  ye  did,  ye  would  say.  Lord, 
strike  on !  ye  would  wish  that  Christ's  staff.  Beauty, 
laid  you  in  a  swoon.  Many  of  you  are  angry  when 
it  touches  you.  Ye  are  not  wise ;  it  is  but  Christ's 
staff  knocking  your  crown  (Rom.  v.  10,  ii).  He 
made  Paul's  head  blood  :  "  the  law  (says  he)  slew  me." 
He  gave  to  David,  by  Nathan,  so  many  strokes  with 
the  word,  that  his  bones  were  broken  (Psalm  Ii.  8). 
Better  get  a  broken  head,  than  get  leave,  with  the 
silly,  foolish  sheep,  to  slip  into  a  pit-hole,  or  ditch, 
for  a  little  green  grass,  and  be  drowned  there. 

It  is  called  Beauty  because  the  word  of  God  is 
purer  than  gold  tried  in  the  fire  seven  times.  And 
what  a  sweet  sight  it  is  to  see  Him,  who  is  the  fairest  of 
men,  the  fairest  among  the  sons  of  men,  standing  in 
all  His  beauty,  in  the  midst  of  His  flock,  with  His  staff. 
Beauty,  in  His  hand. 

€,  The  breaking  of  this  staff  is  of  the  greatest  weight 
and  concernment.  And  this  our  Lord  speaketh  as  a 
shepherd  tired  of  his  part  of  it ;  and  threateneth  to  go 
away.  So,  as  it  were  in  a  passion,  our  Lord  speaketh 
thus,  I  will  go  seek  a  new  master,  and  seek  ye  a  new 
servant.  Nay,  He  was  both  angry  and  sorry ;  so  that 
He  shed  tears  at  His  flitting.  Matt,  xxiii.  37,  38,  Luke 
xix.  41,  "  If  thou  hadst  known  in  this  thy  day,"  &c. 


152  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Doctrine,  Then  Christ  has  a  term  day  with  a  par- 
ticular church ;  and  when  He  is  ill  used  He  may  go 
where  He  may  do  better. 

But  let  us  see  whether  Christ  had  good  cause  or  not 
to  break  His  staff  and  leave  His  flock  to  the  foxes. 
Answer,  He  had ;  because  He  was  true  and  faithful 
in  His  service,  and  was  aye  seeking  out  the  w^andering 
sheep ;  soon  up  and  late  up,  with  many  a  sore  heart, 
seeking  them  :  and  He  lost  none,  but  made  an  ac- 
count of  them  all  to  His  Father.  What  were  all  these? 
Ezek.  iii.  6,  "■  If  I  had  sent  thee  to  a  nation  of  a  strange 
language,"  &c.  Matt.  xii.  41,  *'  The  men  of  Nineveh  shall 
rise  up  in  judgment  with  this  generation,  and  shall 
condemn  it."  Chap  xi.  21,  "  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin," 
&c.  These  show  that  Christ  had  but  a  hard  life  when 
He  fed  them. 

But  to  come  nearer  yet.  What  causes  a  servant  tire 
of  his  services  ?  The  ruler  of  the  house  changes  his 
wages,  and  strikes  him,  howbeit  he  do  his  duty :  and 
the  rest  of  the  servants  mock  him ;  he  is  set  at  the 
board  foot*^  and  matchedf  with  every  running  beggar 
that  comes  to  the  house.  Few  give  him  good  words : 
they  all  look  do\vTi  upon  him  with  contempt  and  scorn. 
Just  so  was  Christ  handled;  the  rulers,  Pharisees, 
and  priests,  did  not  pay  Him  His  wages ;  they  smote 
Him.  Every  lown  in  the  house  made  a  fool  of  the 
honest  servant ;  yea,  the  high  priest's  servants  smote 
Him  on  the  face,  and  spat  upon  Him.  Indeed,  they 
set  Him  to  the  by-board,  yea,  to  the  foot  of  the  board, 
Psalm  xxii.  7,  ^'  I  am  a  worm,  and  no  man."  They 
matched  Him  with  every  vagabond  that  came  to  the 
house,  and  put  Him  in  the  midst,  between  two  thieves. 


*Foot  of  the  table.  f  Put  on  a  level  with. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


153 


They  gave  Christ  the  thiet's  seat,  and  Barabbas  was 
thought  better  than  He. 

Might  not  Christ  break  His  heart  for  all  these  things, 
and  say,  What  ails  ye  at  ]\[e  ?  Might  He  not  break 
His  Shepherd's  staff,  put  up  His  wares,  and  flit  ?  Might 
He  not  say,  It's  time  for  Me  co  pack^  to  the  gate,  they 
are  tired  of  My  service.  And  yet  I  have  gotten  many 
a  wet  foot  in  seeking  these  sheep  ?  Yea,  He  may  say, 
they  are  ill  worthy  of  Him. 

AH  that  is  true.  But  to  come  to  ourselves.  In  His 
members  He  is  ill  used :  banished,  silenced,  and 
treated  worse  than  Barabbas.  He  gets  no  justice  in 
our  Parliaments  ;  Papists,  Arminians,  and  Atheists,  get 
favour,  honour,  and  court  preferment ;  but  an  honest 
professor  is  counted  an  ill  subject,  a  seditious  man,  and 
an  enemy  to  authority.  But  see  how  God  has  met  us, 
He  has  broken  His  staff.  Beauty :  the  purity,  power, 
and  life  of  doctrine  is  away.  The  word  of  God  is 
not  sharp  from  preachers'  mouths :  it  draws  no  blood 
in  men's  consciences.  Nay,  we  wield  not  the  staff 
with  force,  until  the  fire  fly  from  the  pikes  of  it. 
We  castt  and  handle  it,  as  if  our  arm  was  broken  ! 
We  see  the  sheep  gone  out  of  the  way,  and  over  the 
march,  in  the  Lord's  forbidden  pasture.  We  see 
ever)^  man  out  of  his  place,  and  everything  wrong 
in  the  Kirk.  We  see  the  sheep  devoured  and 
poisoned  with  Popery  and  false  doctrine  in  colleges 
and  pulpits.  The  staff  is  not  draA\Ti ;  and  why  ? 
Because  it  is  broken;  and  ye  will  yet  see  it  worse 
broken.  Think  ye  that  a  pair  of  organs,  and  an  ill 
said  mass  (as  King  James  the  VI.  termed  it),  and  a 
busking  of  dirty  ceremonies,  the  whore's  abominations, 
which  we  once  spued  out,  think  ye  that  ever  this  staff 

*  Bundle  up  and  go.  t  Fling  it  about. 


IS4 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


will  draw  blood  of  a  man's  conscience?  Nay,  ere 
this  staff  break,  or  blood '-'  a  proud  hard  heart  that 
exalts  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  ye  may 
as  soon  essay  to  break  a  man's  head  with  a  straw,  or 
a  rush.  The  Lord  says  this  is  a  broken  staff,  and 
we  see  it  not. 

"  That  I  might  break  my  covenants — Because  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  pestilent  enemies  of  grace,  I  will  crave 
leave  to  free  this  place,  and  to  prove,  i.  That  the 
covenant  of  grace  with  the  elect  cannot  be  broken. 
2.  Show  in  what  sense  the  Lord  says.  He  will  break 
His  covenant. 

For  the  first  of  these,  see  Jer.  xxxi.  36,  37,  Isaiah 
liv.  10,  "For  the  mountains  shall  depart,"  &c.  I 
intend,  at  another  occasion,  to  prove  that  the  cove- 
nant is  made  fast  with  Christ,  and  so  stands  not  in 
our  free  will.  See  Jer.  xxxii.  40,  chap.  xxxi.  32,  33, 
34,  35,  Luke  vi.  13.  God's  oath  and  promise  is  a 
sure  thing.  "Aye  sure,"  say  they.  What  then? 
"  Sure  and  sealed  on  God's  part,  providing  we  sin 
not,  for  God  swears  that  believers  shall  be  saved." 
Nay,  but  the  Lord  made  the  covenant  with  Adam 
everlasting ;  for  if  Adam  had  stood,  the  Lord  would 
have  done  His  part.  Nay,  the  law  of  nature,  given 
to  the  reprobate  angels,  in  their  creation,  should  have 
been  as  stable  as  the  new  covenant :  for  will  any  call 
in  question,  that  God  would  have  rewarded  the  apos- 
tate angels,  providing  they  had  continued  in  their 
obedience.  "Nay,"  say  they,  "the  covenant  keeps 
not  men  from  sinning  against  the  covenant;  but 
sinning  against  the  covenant  breaks  the  covenant." 

Answer,  Sin  on  the  elect's  part  breaks  not  the 
new  covenant  (Psalm  Ixxxix.  33). 

*  Make  to  bleed. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  155 


But  the  question  is :  If  the  elect  can  sin  against 
the  covenant  ?     If  that  were  objected, 

I  answer.  They  may  sin,  and  sin  against  the 
doctrine  of  the  covenant,  and  against  the  articles  of 
the  contract  of  marriage,  as  a  wife  may  take  another 
lover.  But  if  this  be  in  the  contract,  "  She  shall  be  my 
wife,  howbeit  she  take  another  lover,"  then  her  har- 
lotry by  no  law,  destroys  the  marriage  contract.  Now, 
when  Christ  marries  His  church.  He  says  He  will 
forgive  her  sins,  and  swears  He  will  forgive  her 
harlotry. 

But  I  ask,  What  makes  a  man  to  be  within  the 
covenant  ?  Answer.  Not  faith  nor  obedience.  What 
then?  God's  free  love.  Ezek.  xvi.  8,  "Thy  time 
was  the  time  of  love, — I  sware  unto  thee,  and  entered 
into  a  covenant  with  thee."  Then  how  long  is  a 
contract  valid  ?  So  long  as  the  chief  clause  is  kept. 
Now,  the  chief  head  of  the  contract  is  God's  eternal 
love,  and  all  here  is  fastened  on  God's  free  promise  ; 
and  this  is  surer  than  mountains  of  brass.  As  long 
as  the  foundation  and  corner-stone  is  firm,  the  wall 
standeth.  Now,  in  all  the  sins  of  the  elect,  the  un- 
changeable love  of  God  standeth  still.  And  let 
Papists,  Arminians,  and  Socinians,  come  and  loose 
this  comer-stone  if  they  can :  it  will  break  all  their 
backs  to  aim  at  it,  and  has  clouded  their  wits  already. 

To  sin  against  the  covenant  is  to  cast  the  grace  of 
the  covenant  fully  away,  so  as  if  they  were  without  it ; 
so  that  they  are  not  now  within  it  \  as  Adam  was  after 
the  fall.  But,  by  sin,  the  elect  cannot  shake  off  the 
seed  of  God  (i  John  iii.  9),  "  For  His  seed  remaineth 
in  Him."  Here  is  a  special  difference  betwixt  the 
first  and  the  last  covenant  that  will  clear  the  matter. 

In  the  first  covenant,  Adam  had  not  a  tutor,  he 
was  like  a  daft  young  heir,  who,  having  gotten  infeft- 


156  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


ment  of  all  that  his  father  gave  him,  he  wastes  and 
spends  all.  But,  in  the  latter  covenant,  God  does 
with  us  as  a  father  doth  with  a  bankrupt  son  :  he 
gives  him  little  at  once,  infefts  him  not,  but  keeps  a 
hank  in  his  own  hand,*^*  and  gives  him  over  to  a 
tutor.  Man  has  cracked  his  credit  with  God;  and 
so  the  Lord  will  not  put  a  sum  in  free  will's  hands 
again  ;  but  He  doth  two  things,  i.  He  gives  little 
in  hand  but  the  end  of  the  covenant,  and  keeps  the 
body  of  it  in  His  own.  Our  writs  and  charters  are 
in  Christ's  keeping,  we  lose  aye  the  thing  we  get,  and 
therefore  God  gives  us  only  a  copy  of  the  charter; 
but  while  here  we  never  get  the  principal ;  Christ 
keeps  the  great  sum  and  gives  us  but  like  a  penny 
to  keep  our  purse.  2.  We  have  not  power  to  cast 
out  the  seed  again  no  more  than  a  man  child  has 
power  to  make  himself  a  woman  child. 

Now,  the  point  is.  Wherefore  saith  God  He  will 
break  His  covenant  with  His  people  ? 

Answer,  It  is  not  He  will  break  His  covenant 
with  these  same  elect  persons,  as  John,  Thomas, 
Anna,  Mary,  and  all  who  are  elected,  or  within  the 
covenant :  but  He  breaketh  the  covenant  with  a  new 
generation,  a  generation  of  castaways,  who  are  their 
seed,  and  gloried  that  the  covenant  was  made  with 
their  fathers,  and  call  themselves  Abraham's  seed  and 
chiefest  kindred  :  their  kindred  was  better  than  them- 
selves. That  particular  church,  had  so  many  years  of 
Christ  for  mailf  and  duty.  J  The  tack§  expires,  they 
sin,  and  pay  not ;  then  Christ  warns  all  the  tenants, 
in  His  Father's  name,  to  flit.  The  contract  was  made 
with  their  fathers ;  they  came  in  their  fathers'  room, 
but  did  not  their  duty,  and  God  put  them  away.    But 

*  Keeps  the  management,     t  Rent.     %  Tax.      §  The  lease. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


157 


as  for  the  true,  friendly,  and  tender  believers,  He  takes 
some  of  them  to  their  rest,  and  some  to  their  king- 
dom. And  if  here  and  there  one  be  left,  when  the 
Shepherd's  staff  is  broken,  He  feeds  them  secretly; 
and  is  a  little  sanctuary  to  them,  and  they  shall  get 
crowns  immediately  from  God.  And  therefore  the 
breaking  of  the  covenant  is  nothing  but  the  breaking 
of  the  staff,  and  taking  away  of  the  word  from  the 
people  of  the  Jews. 

And  therefore  we  may  learn  our  lesson,  if  we  are 
good  scholars.  The  Lord  has  given  us  summons, 
and  our  tacks  are  worn  out.  Many  are  called  home 
who  are  within  the  covenant.  God  can  separate  His 
own  from  the  wicked,  and  then  God  shall  tear  the 
contract  of  marriage.  Therefore  try  your  holding, 
and  look  out  your  papers,  and  see  upon  what  terms 
ye  brock*  Christ.  I  fear  some  have  nothing  but  pro- 
fession, empty,  windy  profession;  others  have  the 
thoughts  of  their  own  head ;  many  have  little  law  or 
right  upon  their  side  for  Christ.  Therefore  see  to 
yourselves;  Christ  has  said  He  will  try  your  sitting, 
what  shall  either  be  His,  or  your  own.  Your  rights 
are  growing  old,  renew  them  to-day,  and  make  sure 
work. 

^'A7id  it  was  broken^^  &c. — When  God  will  break 
the  staff,  who  can  keep  it  whole  ?  There  can  none 
come  after  God  that  can  mend  the  thing  that  He 
doeth.  AVhen  God  gives  out  the  doom,  it  is  no 
empty  talk.  The  thing  that  God  makes  crooked  no 
man  can  set  a  foot  on  it  and  even  it  (Eccles.  vii.  13, 
Jobxii.  14).  He  says.  Behold  He  breaketh  down,  and 
it  cannot  be  built  up  again.  Then,  ere  the  decreet  be 
given  forth,  let  us  return  :  for  who  will  get  a  suspen- 

*  Broke ;  transact  business  with. 


158  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


sion  on  the  Lord's  decreet?  Nay  (Jer.  xv.  i),  "Though 
Moses  and  Samuel  stood  before  me,  my  heart 
could  not  be  towards  this  people."  And  therefore,  if 
He  give  His  church  a  shake  for  her  sins,  it  will  try  all 
our  art  to  mend  her ;  and  if  He  shall  drive  our  hard 
hearts  all  to  pieces,  then  put  ye  your  hands  to 
mend  it. 

4.  "  And  the  poor  of  the  flock  knew  that  it  was  the  word 
of  the  Lord.^^ — Hear  how  He  speaks  of  the  remnant  of 
election.  Ask  what  is  the  church,  and  especially  after 
judgment  has  gone  through  the  land  ?  They  are  a  num- 
ber of  on-waiters.  There  was  nothing  left  now,  when 
Christ  had  broken  His  two  staves.  Beauty  and  Bands, 
but  to  wait  on  an  absent  hidden  Christ.  For  we  can 
all  wait  on  and  believe  when  the  Bridegroom  fills  our 
eyes  with  His  presence,  but  see  what  the  prophet 
Isaiah  saith,  chap.  viii.  17,  "I  will  wait  upon  the  Lord, 
that  hideth  His  face  from  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  will 
look  for  Him."  This  is  something  to  wait  for  a  hidden 
God,  and  to  kiss  Christ  in  the  dark  night,  that  is  a  won- 
der, Psalm  cxxiii.,  "Behold,  as  the  eyes  of  servants 
look  into  the  hand  of  their  masters,  and  as  the  eyes  of 
a  maiden  into  the  hand  of  her  mistress  :  so  our  eyes 
wait  upon  the  Lord  our  God,  until  that  He  have  mercy 
upon  us."  Ken  ye  not,  when  a  poor  serwint  has  gotten 
a  bloody  skin,  and  comes  in  all  bloody  to  his  master, 
what  a  look  will  he  let  out,  even  as  he  would  look 
through  him  :  so  are  our  Lord's  children,  when  op- 
pressed with  bloody  faces,  looking  up  to  our  Lord  and 
waiting  on  (see  Psalm  cxxx.  6).  As  the  morning  watch 
waiteth  for  the  morning;  so  we  see  the  saints  holding 
out  their  tired  arms  to  God,  and  longing  and  looking 
over  the  mountains.  And  they  have  little  or  nothing 
in  hand  but  hope. 

Here  is  a  doubt  answered.  Worldlings  say,  What  have 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


159 


ye  that  we  have  not  ?  Ye  are  a  sick,  poor,  oppressed, 
banished,  and  mocked  people  ;  and  where  is  your  happi- 
ness. We  have  here  an  answer  to  such  \  we  are  on-waiters 
on  God.  Ken  ye  not  some  are  very  rich,  and  have 
thousands  in  this  man's  hand,  and  thousands  in  that 
man's  hand.  If  ye  ask  them  where  their  riches  is,  and 
bid  them  let  you  see  what  they  are  worth ;  they  can 
let  you  see  nothing  but  a  number  of  papers,  and  bonds; 
even  so,  heaven  is  the  land  of  promise,  and  the  land  of 
hope  to  believers.  Let  the  apostle  answer  in  this,  i  John 
iii.  2,  '^Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know  that, 
when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him."  We  are 
the  poor  of  the  flock,  and  the  nothings  of  the  world 
(i  Cor.  i.  21).  We  are  nothing,  that  is,  but  little  less  than 
a  straw,  or  a  feather.  But  stay,  I  pray  you,  our  stock 
is  in  God's  hand.  Wait  ye  on  until  yonder  day,  until 
the  fair,  clear,  and  bright  heartsome  morning  of  your 
long  summer  day,  when  Christ  shall  take  His  weeping 
bride  in  His  arms,  kiss  her  and  wipe  her  face,  and  say, 
"  My  dear  sister,  hold  thy  tongue,"  and  shall  busk  her 
with  His  own  hand. 

Will  ye  let  this  foul  black  shower  blow  by  ;  die  not 
for  sorrow.  Wait  on ;  now  stir  about  Christ's  door, 
cry  over  the  wall.  Lord,  Jesus,  take  in  a  begging 
brother.  Cry  and  wait,  and  I  can  assure  you  Christ 
Jesus  is  cautioner,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  notary,  who 
writes  it,  and  takes  heaven  and  earth,  sun  and  moon, 
to  be  witnesses,  that  ye  shall  laugh  and  rejoice,  and  be 
forced  to  say,  Believers  indeed  have  a  great  to-look,* 
and  are  very  happy. 

'*  Then  I  kncu*  it  was  the  word  of  the  Lord,^^ — So 
soon  as  the  staff  is  broken,  and  the  Lord  flitted  :  the 

*  Prospect  of  things  to  come. 


l6o  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Lord^s  poor  on-waiters  miss  Christ,  they  begin  to  dap 
their  hands,  and  to  say,  Alas  !  He  is  away.  And  the 
rest  know  not  what  that  means ;  they  remember  not 
that,  though  it  was  written  as  Zechariah  had  prophe- 
sied. So  the  Doctrhie  is.  That  Christ  cannot  steal 
away  from  His  own,  and  beguile  them,  but  they  miss 
Him,  and  know  that  He  is  away.  The  faithful  know 
when  He  goes,  and  when  He  comes.  If  not  so,  what 
means  that  of  the  spouse  ?  "  Saw  ye  him  whom  my 
soul  loveth  ?  And  I  charge  you  by  the  roes,  and  by 
the  hinds  of  the  field,  that  ye  tell  him  when  ye  find 
him  that  I  am  sick  of  love"  (Cant,  ii.)  The  Church 
sees  Him  on  the  mountains,  standing  behind  the  wall; 
she  misses  Him  (Cant,  iii.),  and  cannot  find  Him  with 
the  watchmen.  But  on  the  contrary,  you  see  the 
wicked  never  miss  Him ;  they  know  not  what  God  is 
doing  when  the  staff  is  broken.  Nay  (Hos.  vii.  9), 
"  Strangers  have  devoured  Him,  and  He  knows  it 
not."  And  even  when  our  church  is  falling  there 
are  men  who  say  she  is  rising,  and  that  the  staff  is  as 
whole  as  ever  it  was,  and  more  so :  and  say  our  church 
was  under  beggary  and  misery  before.  And  why? 
They  would  have  a  kirk,  conscience,  and  religion 
made  of  gold,  silks,  and  velvets,  and  foot-mantles, 
and  high  horses,  and  much  court.  But  this  text  says, 
the  poor  of  the  flock  are  the  only  on-waiters  on 
Christ. 

5.  But  to  proceed  to  verse  12,  ''■  A7id  I  said  unto 
ihem,  If  ye  think  good,  give  me  my  price. ^^ 

Doctrine,  A  good  ser\^ant,  such  as  Christ  was, 
should  get  His  hire  uncraved  :  but  Christ  gets  leave 
to  crave  His  hire  thrice  over,  ere  He  get  it :  yea,  and 
to  seek  His  own  by  law.  Now,  I  think,  I  recollect 
to  have  heard  of  a  humble  meek  Steward,  speaking 
very  modestly  to  his  master,  and  saying,  If  it  please 


COMMUMON  SERMONS.  i6i 


you,  I   would   have  the  thing  I  have  wrought  for. 
Even  so  (to  speak  with  reverence),  it  is  here. 

Doctrine.  Hence  we  see  where  Christ  has  laboured, 
He  will  seek  fruit  (Isaiah  v.),  "I  looked  for  grapes,  and 
behold  wild  grapes.''  He  will  not  work  for  nothing. 
He  bade  John  Baptist  make  ready  His  way,  ere  He 
came.  In  Matt.  iii.  8,  says  John,  Bring  forth  fruit 
worthy  of  amendment  of  life.  And  in  all  His  doc- 
trine, He  urged  the  bringing  forth  of  fruit.  And  as 
for  the  Jews'  waste,  He  cursed  the  fig-tree,  because  it 
had  leaves,  and  no  fruit;  therefore  every  one  in 
Christ's  house,  seeing  Christ  served  you  in  hard 
service,  and  gave  His  life  in  ransom  for  you,  pay 
Him.  Remember  Christ  is  a  hard  craver,  and  will 
seek  His  owti,  especially  His  wages  from  you,  even 
obedience,  and  newness  of  life.  O  then  !  See  that 
ye  bear  not  bulk*  in  His  garden,  and  no  more ;  but 
do  good  for  fear  He  pull  you  up  and  cast  you  over 
the  dyke.  When  men  are  redeemed,  and  have  gotten 
forgiveness,  they  are  ready  to  sit  down  and  do  no 
more;  just  as  if  a  drink  of  the  well  in  David's  house 
had  made  them  drunken,  and  laid  them  over  to  sleep. 
Nay,  but  when  ye  have  gotten  mercy,  ye  must  up  the 
brae.f  For  know  ye,  that  when  Christ  saves  you,  as 
your  Shepherd,  and  gives  His  life  for  you,  see  that 
you  bargain,  or  change  with  Him,  to  give  Him  your- 
self for  His  wages.  When  an  honest  man  bargains 
with  another,  he  says  to  him.  Ye  shall  be  no  loser  :  I 
shall  lose  ere  ye  lose.  So  should  ye,  when  Christ 
bargains  with  you  ;  let  Him  not  be  behind,  but  rather 
lose  yourselves,  ere  Christ  want  a  penny  of  His  wages. 
Woe's  me,  to  hear  that  professors,  in  buying  or  selling, 
will,  for  five  or  six  shillings  more  of  a  price,  let  Christ's 

*  Quantity ;  mere  body.  t  Press  onward. 

L 


1 62  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


glory  get  a  blot.  Is  this  to  pay  Him  His  wages  ?  It 
were  something  to  be  a  servant,  would  ye  pay  Him 
for  by-gones.^'     In  this  ye  may  learn  a  doctrine. 

Doctrine.  Christ  is  made  a  servant,  and  a  servant 
is  not  his  own,  but  a  bond  man ;  an  hired  servant  is 
his  master's,  and  all  his  work  is  his  master's ;  and  he 
is  bound  to  serve  no  other.  How  is  this?  Was  Christ 
our  servant?  Yea,  He  says,  in  Matt.  xx.  28,  "The  Son 
of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  min- 
ister, and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

But  it  were  well  done  here  to  clear  the  matter  to 
you,  and  to  let  you  see  that  Christ  was  hired,  and 
who  hired  Him.  We  hired  Him  not.  Why  then 
should  He  crave  His  wages  of  His  church  ? 

Answer.  His  Father  hired  Him.  For  understand- 
ing of  this ; — God,  our  Father,  and  Christ's  Father, 
had  a  necessary  piece  of  service  to  do  :  He  had  His 
sheep  to  bring  out  of  hell :  sheep  that  had  gone 
astray,  over  and  beyond  the  black  river  of  death  and 
hell :  and  our  merciful  Lord  would  fain  have  them 
brought  home  again.  The  angels  could  not  take  the 
service  in  hand  :  they  could  never  have  won  the  hire : 
but  in  comes  Christ,  and  says,  I  will  win  the  wages. 
And  He  struck  hands  with  the  Father :  and  was  booked 
God's  servant.  Isaiah  xlii.,  "  Behold  My  servant,  whom 
I  have  chosen."  At  the  meeting,  Christ  said,  I  will 
do  Your  bidding ;  and  so  He  did  (Psalm  xl.  7,  8), 
''Then  said  He,  Lo,  I  come:  in  the  volume  of  the 
book  it  is  written  of  Me,  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O 
My  God ;  yea,  Thy  law  is  written  within  My  heart." 
And  (Isaiah  1.  5),  "The  Lord  hath  opened,"  or 
pierced,  "  mine  ear :"  as  the  servant  under  the  law, 
who  would  not  leave  his  master's   service;   so   was 

*  Past  kindness. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  163 


our  Lord.  And  further,  He  says,  I  was  not  rebellious, 
neither  turned  I  away  My  back.  Verse  6,  "  I  gave 
My  back  to  the  smiters,  and  My  cheeks  to  them  that 
plucked  off  the  hair."  And  (Phil.  ii.  7),  ''He  made 
Himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  Him  the  form 
of  a  servant."  There  is  Christ  saying,  My  Father 
bored  My  ear,  and  hired  Me  as  a  servant,  to  suffer 
shame  and  death.  And  says  Christ,  I  did  My  duty, 
I  played  not  the  truant,  I  brake  not  to  Him  :  or  I 
came  not  back,  nor  turned  to  a  back-side  :  I  brake 
not  away  from  My  Master,  as  an  ill  servant.  Now 
then,  ye  see,  God  hired  Him  to  Himself,  and  God 
hired  Him  to  us  ;  and  Christ  was  true  to  His  Master, 
and  God  trusted  all  to  Him  (Isaiah  lii.  13),  ''Behold, 
My  Servant  shall  deal  prudently."  And  so  God  gave 
Him  in  hand  grace  and  strength  above  His  fellows 
for  the  work ;  and  promised  Him  a  willing  people,  or 
a  kingdom.  And  Christ  accepted  of  the  condition, 
and  said,  Send  Me,  a  bargain  be  it. 

iS'ow,  God  be  thanked  for  that  hired  Servant.  And 
God  gave  to  Christ  something  in  hand;  even  our 
nature.  By  taking  a  body,  Christ  bound  Himself  to 
us,  head  and  foot,  as  well  as  He  was  bound  to  God. 
For  He  having  taken  our  nature,  was  sworn  to  bestow 
His  manhood  upon  us,  to  redeem  us.  For  had  He 
taken  on  man's  nature,  and  not  saved  man,  He  had 
not  kept  the  condition  as  a  faithful  servant :  but  now 
being  bound.  He  then  puts  His  hand  to  the  pen,  and 
says  Amen  to  the  bargain.  So  then,  when  Christ 
became  man,  He  said,  A  bargain  be  it.  It's  true, 
naked  manhood  was  not  enough  to  make  Him  a 
sufficient  servant ;  but  Christ  said,  I  shall  put  to  that 
which  is  wanting.  I  shall  put  to  My  grace  to  your 
nature,  and  My  God-head  to  your  manhood,  to  make 
the  work  hold  forward.     Now  know  that  the  Lord 


1 64  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


was  bound  to  God  and  to  us,  not  merely  to  do  His 
best  to  perfect  the  service ;  not  to  bring  our  salvation 
under  free  communing*  betwixt  God  and  us  :  not  as  if 
He  had  said,  I  shall  do  what  I  can  to  make  the  agree- 
ment betwixt  you,  and  to  save  you  :  I  will  see  if  I  can 
please  parties ;  and,  if  not,  I  shall  leave  it  no  worse 
than  I  found  it.  Nay,  but  accepting  the  office  of  a 
Mediatorship,  He  took  upon  Him  an  absolute  sub- 
mission to  make  up  the  difference,  or  else  to  stick  by 
the  gate;t  and  that  what  God  had  left  undone  (to 
speak  so)  Christ  was  bound  as  a  Servant  to  make  it 
up.  So  God  and  man  made  it  up  ;  for  God  had  lost 
the  glory,  both  of  His  truth  and  justice:  of  His  active 
and  passive  obedience.  Man  had  taken  it  from  Him; 
and  Christ  said  to  His  Father,  All  Thy  losses  be  upon 
Me,  and  crave  Me  for  all :  and  here  what  man  had 
stolen,  Christ  gave  it  again,  of  the  same  kind  :  as  if 
money  was  stolen,  aiid  money  was  given  again  to 
him  from  whom  it  was  stolen. 

Let  us  learn,  then,  to  bind  ourselves  to  Christ,  as 
He  bound  Himself  to  us  ;  for  He  could  not  run  away 
when  once  He  was  bound.  So  when  once  we  are 
His,  we  may  not  take  the  play.  Christ  once  gave  in 
obedience  (when  we  had  lost  heaven)  to  justice  and 
truth;  and  Christ  said.  My  dear  brethren,  all  your 
losses  be  on  me,  Amen.  Now,  well  said.  Lord 
Jesus.  Look  then  now,  how  Christ  was  bound  for 
you,  and  yet  ye  think  much  to  bind  your  necks  to 
His  service,  for  thirty  or  forty  years,  and  then  to  go 
to  heaven  through  Him?  But  he  went  a  rougher 
gate  for  you,  to  hell  and  the  grave.  Now,  be  content 
to  bind  yourselves  to  Him,  I  pray  you. 

'-'And  if  not,  forbear'' — As  if  Christ  would  say, 

*  Leave  it  as  a  question  to  be  discussed.  t  \vay. 


COMMUKION  SERMONS.  165 


If  ye  will  not  pay  Me,  I  will  not  break  My  heart  for 
the  matter;  keep  it  to  yourselves.  I  will  do  My 
work ;  My  Father  will  pay  Me.  He  is  even  speaking 
as  they  use  to  do  to  dyvours.  Either  pay  Me,  or  say 
ye  \d\\  not :  shift*  Me  not.  Give  Me  either  wages, 
or  surety,  that  I  may  seek  My  own  by  law. 

But  then  I  see  when  all  is  done,  Christ  cares  not 
much  to  want  His  wages,  He  resolved  to  do  the  work 
whether  He  got  hire  or  not.  It  was  another  He  was 
looking  to  than  man.  He  had  an  earnest  desire  after 
the  work,  howbeit  we  should  pay  Him  nothing.  For 
the  matter  stood  not  upon  our  will,  and  our  love,  so 
as  if  Christ  had  said,  I  work  My  work,  and  die,  upon 
condition  they  will  pay  Me.  Nay,  it  was  not  so; 
but  a  reason  in  His  death  and  mediation  was  to  win 
our  will  to  obedience,  and  to  purchase  grace,  whereby 
we  should  be  made  willing  to  pay  Him  His  wages. 
And  here  we  see,  if  a  nation  refuse  Him,  as  Scotland, 
He  will  get  others  willing  to  pay  Him  His  wages. 
He  will  not  want  a  new  master. 

6. "  &  they  weighed  for  My  price  thirty  pieces  of  silver" 
— Consider  this  answer  was  neither  boasting  nor  high ; 
but  like  the  meek  Lamb  of  God;  like  a  poor  oppressed 
servant.  He  craved  His  wages,  and  said.  Give  me  My 
hire  for  My  labour.  See  the  rough  answer  they  gave 
Him,  Give  You  Your  wages  ;  the  carpenter's  Son  who 
has  a  devil?  Give  Him  thirty  pieces  (say  they)  to 
buy  Him  to  the  gallows  !  Hire  Judas  to  put  Him 
out  to  us,  that  we  may  take  Him  and  hang  Him,  for 
that  is  the  wages  we  allow  upon  Him  !  Is  not  this 
indiscreet  talking  to  the  Son  of  God.  They  pay  the 
Shepherd  His  wages  with  many  a  blea  stroke,!  saying. 
Let  Him  take  that  for  His  pains.     They  answered 

*  Do  not  put  Me  off.     t  Stroke  that  makes  black  and  blue. 


1 66  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


even  as  a  rough  master  does  to  an  ill  servant,  who 
says,  Pay  me,  and  let  me  go  my  ways.  The  master 
answers,  Give  you  your  ^^  ages  !  give  you  the  gallows  ! 
So  do  they  answer  Christ,  as  if  He  were  an  ill  servant. 
But  His  Father  sent  Him  with  good  words,  *^  I  am 
that  good  Shepherd,  come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  are 
weary,  and  heavy  laden.  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  to  Me,  and  drink."  Then  might  not  the  priests 
have  given  our  Lord  a  good  answer  ?  Nay,  see  two 
words  in  Matt.  xxi.  -t^"^^  39.  The  Heir  came  to  seek 
friiit,  of  the  vineyard  they  caught  Him  and  cast  Him 
out  of  the  vineyard,  and  slew  Him.  Would  ye  have 
believed,  when  Christ  came  to  His  own  vineyard,  that 
the  servants  would  have  slain  Him  and  casten  Him 
over  the  dyke ;  denied  Him  a  grave,  and  let  Him 
borrow  another  man's  !  Would  ye  not  wonder  to  see 
Him  come  in  to  the  church,  in  to  the  Parliament 
House,  and  to  see  men  cast  the  door  in  His  face, 
and  hold  Him  out.  Yet  even  so  (Acts  iv.  11),  He 
was  the  stone  set  at  nought,  and  thrown  over  the  wall. 
O  !  a  strange  thing  !  Would  they  give  Him  no  room 
in  the  wall  ?  Might  they  not  have  made  Him  a  pin- 
ning ?"     Or  was  He  not  fit  for  the  work  ? 

Now  ye  may  say,  Foresaw  not  Christ  all  this ;  saw 
He  not,  ere  He  was  hired,  what  wages  His  master's 
would  give  Him?  Ay,  this  text  tells,  in  Zechariah's 
days  He  saw  it.  Wherefore  then  entered  He  on  the 
service  ? 

Aiis7ifer.  If  ye  look  the  text,  ye  mil  see  He  took 
the  hire  and  would  not  return  it  again ;  but  in  His 
providing,  He  cast  it  to  the  Potter's  field,  and  went  on 
in  His  service  for  all  that.  See  yet  more,  what  a  meek 
and  patient  servant  Christ  was.     He  cried.  Pay  Me 

*  A  small  stone  in  the  wall. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  167 


My  wages  ;  but  they  said,  Give  You  wages  !  give  You 
thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  buy  You  to  the  gallows.  Thus 
they  stormed  at  Christ's  answer,  and  ran  away.  Yet 
indeed  He  took  it,  and  employed  it  as  he  thought  good. 
He  calls  it  His  wages  ;  as  if  He  would  say,  This  is  even 
as  much  as  refusing  to  pay  Me.  Why  not  willing,  My 
dear  spouse?  Thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  1  uy  Me  to  the 
cross  !  I  am  even  content ;  a  bargain  be  it.  I  see  it 
will  be  so  :  I  foresee  and  prophesy  it  will  be  so. 

Then  the  Lord  saw  how  matters  would  go,  and  how 
He  would  be  handled ;  but  yet  He  would  not  repent 
of  the  bargain;  He  would  not  give  it  over;  He  accepted 
of  the  money,  and  goes  forward  in  His  service,  until 
He  be  betrayed,  slain,  and  buried.     Ye  may  see,  then 
Christ  had  resolved  on  the  worst,  to  swallow  all  indig- 
nities, and  set  His  face  against  the  stormy  blast.    Now, 
see  ye,  all  that  Christ  got  was  a  hard  reward  for  His 
service  :  He  had  many  a  wet  foot  in  seeking  His  sheep; 
and  got  but  twenty-six  pounds  Scots'^  for  His  pains. 
Christ  did  not  stumble  on  the  matter  by  guess,  as  one 
who  makes  a  bargain,  and  when  He  sees  what  it  will 
cost  Him,  He  says,  It  had  been  good  for  Me  if  I  had 
never  seen  it.     Nay,  but  Christ  saw  the  worst,  and  re- 
solved on  the  worst.    Nay,  but  has  He  not  been  serving 
all  along  ever  since  the  Reformation  ?     And  who  can 
deny  that  He  has  been  feeding  His  sheep  amongst  us, 
craving  His  Avages,  and  seeking  His  fruit  ?     But  alas  ! 
we  have  given  Him  as  little  as  they  did  before  the 
Reformation?     We   have  sold  Him  and  His   truth. 
What  fruits  has  He  gotten  ?     They  are  worth  nothing. 
Nothing  but  ignorance  of  God,  idolatr}^,  cursing,  lying, 
and  swearing;  and  on  His  Sabbath   He  gets  but  raw 
service,  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  on  some  days  mickle 

*  The  value  of  thirtv  shekels  of  silver. 


1 68  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


vanity  and  pride  in  apparel,  extortion,  no  justice,  but 
many  false  laws,  incest,  and  adulteries ;  many  unre- 
venged  bloods,  a  wicked  and  windy  profession. 

"  A  goodly  price'' — Christ  speaks  as  a  man  to  be 
pitied  or  bemoaned ;  like  a  poor  servant  beguiled  of 
his  wages.  As  if  he  had  said,  God  kens  if  I  wan  it  not 
dear.  I  endured  the  winter's  cold  and  the  summer's 
heat.  Many  a  weary  night  was  I  awake  when  they 
were  asleep ;  and  look  at  the  hire  they  have  given  Me  ! 
Indeed,  a  good  price  that  I  the  Lord  was  valued  at  ! 
These  worldlings,  like  Judas,  the  Scribes,  and  Pharisees, 
who  love  the  world,  and  never  have  a  right  estimation 
of  Christ ;  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver  the  kirk-men 
bought  and  sold  Him.  If  the  world  be  great  in  your 
books,  Christ  has  then  lost  court*  in  your  hearts ;  for 
faith  and  a  good  conscience  die  and  live  together. 
Make  once  a  hole  in  a  good  conscience,  and  bring  in 
the  world  into  your  hearts,  and  ye  shall  see  faith  sink 
very  soon.  I  wish  men  saw  with  two  eyes  here,  that 
the  world  is  a  golden  hammer  to  break  religion  in 
pieces,  and  that  it  breaks  down  the  kirk  walls.  For  what 
has  overturned  Christ  and  religion  but  men's  love  of 
the  world,  court,  and  honour.  Go  over  to  Rome,  and 
see  how  they  love  God,  who  make  golden  kirks  and 
golden  images  their  religion.  They  have  riches  and 
fat  benefices,  and  therefore  they  have  put  a  tongue 
in  Purgatory's  mouth  to  cry,  Money,  Money.  They 
love  honour  well,  and  therefore  their  doctrine  cries, 
A  Pope  above  all  kings  and  emperors  in  worldly 
glory.  And  because  the  second  commandment 
speaks  against  their  images,  they  have  shut  it  out 
as  a  servant.  Men  see  not  their  court. t  and  the  world 
can  put  a  lie  in  their  consciences,  and  cause  them  to 

*  Favour  and  influence.  t  Interest. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS 


169 


believe  black  is  white,  and  idolatry  is  a  thing  indif- 
ferent. Would  ye  know  the  cause  of  it  ?  (but  men 
will  not  believe  it).  When  once  the  affections  are 
passionate,  and  when  therefore  the  truth  comes  into 
the  soul  of  men  of  corrupt  minds  and  affections,  it  is 
like  good  wine  put  into  old  bottles  :  our  hearts  sour 
the  truth.  Or,  like  a  beautiful  stranger  coming  into 
a  very  smoky  house,  who  is  all  bleared  and  blackened 
to-morrow.  And  why?  God's  truth  charges  us  to 
bow  to  it,  and  to  deny  our  own  wills,  and  lusts ;  and 
yield  obedience  to  it.  But  when  men's  affections  are 
poisoned  with  their  lusts,  they  change  the  law  to  say 
as  they  say,  and  wrest,  patch,  and  make  religion,  and 
the  truth,  as  a  wide  shoe  to  suit  their  foot  :  or  as  a 
coat  with  a  wide  bosom,  that  they  may  take  both  re- 
ligion and  their  lusts  into  it.  Hence  the  adulterer  will 
not  bow  his  back  to  the  seventh  commandment ;  he 
would  have  it  get  a  back-blow  with  his  hammer,  that 
it  might  crook  and  bow  to  his  lusts.  And  the  cove- 
tous man,  because  he  will  not  be  reformed,  would  wish 
a  reformation  on  the  tenth  commandment.  The  fool's 
poisoned  heart  says,  God  will  not  bow  to  him,  there- 
fore he  gives  his  conscience  a  back-throw,  till  it  take 
the  cramp  again :  and  then  he  says  in  his  heart.  There 
is  no  God.  And  do  we  not  see  it  so  this  day? 
Religion  goes  straight,  and  the  truth  of  God  takes 
even  out  at  the  gate  :  but  men's  hearts  are  upon 
policy,  state,  benefices,  honour,  and  court ;  therefore 
they  would  cast  religion  in  a  pair  of  moulds  and  give 
it  a  back-throw,  to  cause  it  go  halting  and  clinsing^ 
after  the  world.  And  if  Christ  would  say  and  do,  as 
the  lulers  of  the  people  would  have  Him,  He  should 
not  be  crucified. 

*  CrippUng.     So  used  in  old  Gawin  Douglas. 


170 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


'^  Thai  J  was  valued  at  :'^  which  I  the  Lord  Jesus, 
Jehovah,  who  brake  the  staves,  of  beauty  and 
bands,  was  vakied  at. — This  is  clear  in  the  13th  verse, 
and  in  Matt,  xxvii.  8,  9.  It  is  the  man,  Christ,  whom 
Judas  sold,  for  Matthew  cites  the  text :  but  he  says 
that  it  was  cited  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah.  Now,  the 
text  is  here  in  Zechariah  :  and  there  is  not  such  a 
place  in  Jeremiah ;  therefore  it  is  like  that  Zechariah 
was  also  called  Jeremiah.  For  it  was  ordinary  for  the 
Jews  to  have  two  names ;  and  especially  because 
Zechariah  and  Jeremiah  come  both  from  the  same 
fountain  in  the  Hebrew :  and  they  have  both  one 
signification ;  and  both  in  our  language  signify,  a  man 
exalting  God. 

But  here  the  thing  I  would  be  at  against  the 
blinded  Jews.  Zechariah  says,  Jehovah  was  valued 
at  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  Matthew  says,  the  Son  of 
man  was  valued  at  thirty  pieces.  So  these  two  are  one 
and  the  same  person;  which  is  a  clear  proof  that 
our  Mediator  is  both  Jehovah,  God  Almighty,  and 
also  a  betrayed  Man,  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  The 
Jews  might  have  remembered  this  prophecy  when 
they  gave  thirty  pieces  of  silver  for  Christ,  and  before 
their  eyes  it  was  cast  down  in  the  Lord's  house,  and 
by  themselves  made  use  of,  to  buy  the  Potter's  field. 
So  then,  Christ  is  God  and  man  (the  Jews  will  not 
have  Him,  let  us  take  Him) ;  for  thus  it  behoved  the 
work  of  our  redemption  to  be  a  mixed  work,  coming 
from  two  natures.  Then  take  Him  as  sib^  to  you: 
Christ,  God-man,  is  all  beauty  and  fair  to  behold. 

Two  things  commend  a  wife,  a  sweet  smell,  and  a 
fair  colour.  Christ-man  smells  of  love,  as  sib  to  us ; 
and  Christ-God  is  all  beauty  and  fairness  itself,  to 

*  Closely  related. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  171 


behold.  A  precious  stone,  for  beauty  and  colour : 
and  also  for  the  rareness  of  it,  most  excellent.  So 
then  in  everything  Christ  is  excellent.  For  the  God- 
head and  manhood  are  like  two  men  lifting  a  dead  man 
out  of  the  water,  and  each  of  them  lifts  to  the  other's 
hands.  For  the  manhood  draws  dead  and  condemned 
men  from  under  sin  and  wrath,  and  the  God-head 
lends  strength,  and  holds  out  an  arm  to  the  manhood 
to  do  it.  The  manhood  prays,  is  sad,  hungry,  thirsty, 
cold,  wear}',  dies,  and  suffers  God's  anger.  The  God- 
head stands  it  out  as  a  back-friend,"^  lifting  and  bear- 
ing up  the  manhood,  under  that  great  work,  at  that 
great  day  of  law,  when  our  action  is  called.  The  God- 
head backed  Christ,  and  convoyed  Him  to  the  bar  of 
God's  justice,  where  He  answers  for  it.  The  God-head 
cannot  suffer :  the  manhood  suffered,  the  God-head 
being  overclouded,  yet  so  as  it  broke  the  force  of  the 
stroke,  by  doing  and  supporting.  As  an  arrow  shot 
at  a  brazen  wall,  the  point  of  it  is  broken  and  driven 
back.  So  the  arrow  of  God's  indignation  went  through 
Christ,  soul  and  body,  and  made  Him  heav}^  unto 
death  :  but  the  God-head,  like  a  brazen  wall,  brake 
the  point  of  the  arrow,  and  held  up  the  man, 
Christ. 

This  was  a  rare  work,  strange  and  uncouth  f  to  see. ! 
The  angels  marvelled  to  see  God  stand.  The  God-head 
stood  to  ward  off  the  Lord's  arrows  shot  against  the 
holy  child  Jesus.  And  never  a  hole  that  the  arrows 
had  made  in  Christ-man  but  the  God-head  was  aye  at 
hand,  immediately  to  pour  in  balm,  and  fill  it  up  in 
the  very  moment  of  suffering.  And  as  Christ-man 
was  burnt  in  His  soul,  the  God-head  held  a  well  of 
faitli,  comfort,  hope  and  courage  to  His  head  to  drink 

*  At  his  back  to  help,      t  Uncommon  ;  extraordinary. 


1 7  2  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


His  fill.  For  Christ  ever  believed,  and  still  hoped,  and 
prayed  in  faith. 

Then,  beHevers,  count  heaven  a  precious  thing  that 
was  so  dear  bought.  Here  was  an  uncouth  wonderful 
yoking*  for  it !  Then  fy  upon  thee,  if  thou  sell  it  for 
clay  and  swinish  lusts.  The  thing  that  Christ  wan 
with  His  sweet  life,  wilt  thou  slip  from  it  like  a  knot- 
less  thread  ?  Alas  !  I  see  men  have  not  the  estima- 
tion of  salvation  that  Christ  had.  He  gave  much  for 
it :  they  cast  it  at  the  cocks  for  a  penny,  for  a  feather. 
The  young  heir  knows  not  how  hard  the  conquestt  was 
to  his  poor  father ;  who  was  soon  up,  and  late  up,  and 
ventured  through  ihe  seas,  and  was  shipwrecked  thrice, 
and  taken  with  Turks  and  Pirates.  So  we  are  but 
young  daft  heirs,  and  know  not  how  dear  Christ  bought 
our  inheritance.  He  wanted  the  night's  sleep  for  it ; 
it  cost  Him  many  a  weary  and  heavy  heart  :  yea  He 
swimmed  the  salt  sea  of  the  Lord's  wrath  for  it. 

7.  ^'  And  I  took  the  thirty  pieces,  and  cast  them  to  the 
potter.'^ — To  buy  a  field  with,  for  beggars  and  strangers; 
for  the  Jews  would  not  have  the  uncircumcised  buried 
with  them.  See  ye  not  how  Satan  served  Judas.  He 
sought  in  his  heart  how  to  betray  Christ.  Satan  said 
to  him,  Thou  servest  a  hungry  master.  Wilt  thou  put 
Him  in  a  purse,  and  get  something  from  the  high 
priest  for  Him  that  will  do  thee  good  ?  Judas  does 
so.  And  now,  when  Judas  got  it,  it  burns  his  con- 
science and  he  throws  it  from  him,  and  it  is  cast  to 
the  potters  to  buy  a  field.  What  gets  Judas'  heirs  and 
executors  of  his  thirty  pieces?  First,  he  makes  a  dog's 
testament ;  then  he  leaves  nothing  to  his  heirs.  Many 
a  purse  gotten  with  selling  Christ  is  casten  to  the 
potters  :  strangers  and  beggars  get  it.     Then  look  to 

*  Setting  to ;  undertaking.     +  The  acquisition  of  the  estate. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


173 


court,  honour,  and  benefices,  and  estates  gotten  with 
the  selh'ng  of  Christ,  if  they  thrive  to  the  third  heir. 
Many  earldoms,  and  lordships  that  come  this  way  will 
be  casten  to  the  potter's  field.  Satan  filled  Judas' head 
and  heart  ^vith  hope  when  he  tempted  him;  now  when 
he  casts  away  the  money,  he  gives  him  the  cheat  for 
his  bishopric  :  he  would  laugh  him  to  scorn.  For, 
when  Judas  was  conscience  sick,  he  would  not  come 
and  hold  his  head.  I  think  Satan  is  like  a  lown,  or 
sporter,  who  has  put  in  his  finger  among  ashes,  where 
there  is  fire,  and  burneth  himself,  and,  tempting, 
he  says  to  his  neighbour.  It  is  not  hot ;  and  makes 
him  put  in  his  hand,  till  he  is  burnt,  and  cries ;  and 
then  he  laughs,  and  says,  Good  speed.  The  devil  has 
burnt  his  hand  with  sin,  and  he  says  to  Judas,  and 
others,  It  is  not  hot,  put  in  your  hand  and  feel.  And 
when  they  are  scalded,  and  cry,  and  cast  away  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  he  but  laughs  at  then-.  Nay, 
I  have  now  mind  how  Jacob  took  Esau  at  the  right 
time,  when  he  was  dying  for  hunger :  he  would  not 
give  him  a  soup  of  his  pottage  till  he  sold  him  his 
birth-right.  Satan,  finding  men  dying  for  hunger 
after  the  world,  court,  and  riches,  he  makes  them 
trow*  they  shall  get  nothing,  unless  they  sell  their 
birth-right.  And  when  Satan  once  gets  them  in  a 
right  mood,  and  to  lust  after  the  world  ;  hence,  he 
gets  them  to  sell  their  birth-right  for  sin.  But,  believe 
me,  ye  but  burn  your  lips  with  the  devil's  pottage ; 
when  ye  quit  Christ  and  your  birth-right  for  sin. 
Ye  but  scrape,  and  draw  together  for  the  potter's 
field.  Ay,  but  stay  till  it  come  to  Saul's  and  Judas' 
case,  in  the  hinder  end  of  the  day.  When  a  house 
takes  fire,  it  is  not  long  in  going  to  all  the  corners 

'  Suppose ;  believe. 


174  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


thereof.  So  if  ye  sell  your  birth-right  to  Satan,  sin, 
and  the  world ;  when  death  comes,  the  fire  of  hell 
will  kindle  in  your  conscience,  till  all  be  in  a  flame ; 
and  ye  will  not  get  water  to  quench  it.  O  then,  take 
heed,  and  beware  of  Satan's  flatteries,  sin's  vain  plea- 
sures, and  the  world's  deceitful  allurements  :  for  they 
are  all  but  empty  nothings,  a  matter  of  mere  moon- 
shine. It  is  storied  of  men  going  over  to  Italy  and 
selling  their  goods  to  wizards,  and  getting,  as  they 
supposed,  chest-fulls  of  gold :  and  when  they  came 
home  and  opened  their  chests  they  had  nothing 
but  a  number  of  round  slate  stones,  and  were  all 
beguiled.  So,  in  believing  the  world,  Satan,  and  sin, 
you  can  meet  with  nothing  but  deception.  Ken 
ye  not  that  the  devil,  the  world,  and  sin,  can  all 
cog"^  the  dice,  and  promise  gold,  while  all  is  but 
mere  nothings,  empty  shadows,  and  worse  than  slate 
stones  ? 

Now,  I  pray  and  beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of 
God,  by  the  blood  of  the  eternal  covenant,  by  the 
price  of  your  souls'  redemption,  by  the  salvation  of 
your  immortal  souls,  and  by  your  compearing  naked 
and  bare  before  the  judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead ; 
cast  this  world  and  sin  over  behind  your  backs. 
Hate  and  abhor  every  sin,  whether  in  yourselves 
or  others,  and  go  up  through  this  world  leaning 
upon  Christ,  keeping  your  eye  fixed  upon  Him,  as 
your  only  safety.  The  Lord  bless  His  word  to  you. 
Amen. 

*  Load  the  dice  so  as  to  cheat  in  playing. 


SERMON        VIII." 

And  they  say  uuio  her^  Woman,  why  zueepest  thou  ?  She  saith 
unto  them,  Because  they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I 
kncnu  not  where  they  have  laid  Him,  qt^c. — John  xx.  13,  14, 
15,  16,  17,  18. 

HERE  \^  first  a  conference  betwixt  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  the  angels  who  had  watched  Christ's 
grave,  and  been  witness  of  His  resurrection  (verse  13) 
Then  she  turneth  from  them,  and  lights  upon  Christ 
and  knows  Him  not. 

Second.  A  conference  betwixt  Mary  and  Christ 
while  she  knew  not  that  it  was  He  (verse  14,  15), 
A  person  may  believe  in  Christ,  and  yet  not  have 
the  assurance  thereof.  They  may  have  true  faith  in 
Him,  and  yet  not  the  sensible  assurance  of  His  love. 

Third,  A  conference  betwixt  Christ  and  her,  after 
knowing  Him,  all  full  of  comfort.  The  Lord  allowethf 
comfort  to  His  people  after  a  time  of  mourning. 
"  Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  comedi 
in  the  morning"  (Psalm  xxx.  5). 

Mary  Magdalene  comes  first  to  the  grave,  and 
meets  with  Christ :  for  He  had  dispossessed  her  of 
seven  devils,  and  she  loved  much,  because  many  sins 
were  forgiven  her.  We  are  ready  to  count  sin  and 
Satan  a  sweet  possession  as  long  as  we  have  them ; 

*  Preached  in  the  evening  at  Anwoth  Communion,  1634. 
t  Gives  an  allowance  of. 


1 7  6  COMiMUXIO.V  SERMONS, 


but  when  Christ  taketh  these  from  us,  we  loathe 
them,  and  rejoice  in  Him  and  His  mercy. 

"  Why  weepest  thoicV — There  is  no  envying  of  the 
angels  at  her  desire  after  Christ.  They  are  glad  that 
sinners  are  sick  of  love  for  their  well  beloved.  Mary 
had  cause  to  rejoice,  and  not  to  weep  :  for  Christ's 
rising  should  be  as  a  napkin  to  wipe  all  tears  from 
sinners'  faces.  *^ 

Doctrine.  We  have  foolish  and  vain  affections, 
poisoned  with  sin  :  we  weep  when  we  should  laugh, 
and  laugh  when  we  should  weep.  The  disciples 
should  have  rejoiced,  because  He  said,  "  I  go  to  the 
Father."  It  was  a  blessed  way  for  them.  He  was 
going  to  prepare  a  lodging-house  for  them  ;  but  they 
were  afraid,  and  had  sorrow  of  heart  for  His  way- 
going. Some  think  He  feeds  not  His  people  in  His 
absence  :  nay,  but  let  me  say  it,  God  indeed  not  only 
feeds  His  own  people  with  sense  of  presence,  but  also 
with  absence.  When  the  moon  is  under  a  cloud,  and 
the  Lord  is  away,  the  desire  groweth,  and  the  hunger 
and  thirst  after  Him  increaseth,  which  is  a  good  evi- 
dence. We  often  mistake  our  Lord,  and  are  really 
going  forward,  when  we  apprehend  we  are  going 
backward. 

"  Why  zveepest  thou  r — The  angels  could  teach  this, 
That  Christ's  rising  from  the  dead  is  matter  of  joy. 
Christ  seeing  John  falling  down  before  Him  for  fear 
(Rev.  i.  17,  18),  laid  His  right  hand  upon  him, 
saying,  "Fear  not;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last;  I 
am  He  that  liveth,  and  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I 
am  alive  for  evermore,  Amen."  (Psalm  cxviii.  24), 
"This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made;    we 

*  He  has  a  sermon  on  Rev.  xxi.  4,  which  has  the  title,  **  Christ'' s 
Napkin.'' 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


177 


will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it."  (Acts  xiii.  32,  33), 
"And  we  declare  unto  you  glad  tidings,  how  that 
the  promise  which  was  made  unto  the  fathers,  God 
hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  us,  their  children  in 
that  He  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again."  Therefore, 
Christ,  after  His  resurrection,  said  unto  His  disciples, 
"  Peace  be  unto  you.  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid.''  All  is 
well ;  seeing  *^  He  was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and 
was  raised  again  for  our  justification  "  (Rom.  iv.  25). 
Just  as  if  Christ  should  say.  You  and  I  have  won  the 
action ;  be  glad  and  come  out,  all  is  paid.  "  Because 
I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  Wo*  and  cold  would  our 
comfort  have  been  for  ever,  if  death  had  arrested 
Christ  in  the  grave.  It  is  an  uncouthf  cold  bed  to  go 
into  death's  dark  pit  never  to  come  out  again  :  they  are 
all  lodged  there  for  ever.  It  is  a  miserable  house ; 
the  inner  chamber  is  the  king  of  terrors  :  yea,  black 
hell,  hell  and  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone.  But  the  Lord,  in  His  resurrection,  hath 
triumphed  over  death  and  hell,  and  delivered  all  His 
elect  people  from  this  grievous  curse  that  they  were 
lying  under,  in  being  heirs  of  hell.  Therefore  our 
Lord's  coming  out  of  prison  is  a  relieving  all  His 
children.  Think  now  (if  we  may  make  the  supposition) 
ye  see  a  poor  man  with  one  or  two  bairns  on  his  back, 
wading  a  deep  water;  he  is  like  to  drown,  and  the 
bairns  cr}ing  for  fear,  and  he  cries  to  them.  Hold  your 
tongue,  my  bairns,  and  I  shall  warrant  you ;  and  then 
when  he  comes  out,  he  wipes  all  their  faces.  So 
Christ  in  the  grave  had  all  the  children  that  His 
Father  gave  Him  legally  hanging  about  His  neck, 
and  in  His  arms.  Our  heaven,  and  all  our  writs  and 
charters,  all  our  salvation,  was  in  the  grave  with  Him. 

^  Miserable.         t  Strange. 


178  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


"  Mary  answered,  They  have  taken  a^uay  my  Lord, 
and  I  knoiv  not  where  they  have  laid  Hhnr — Have  I 
not  good  cause  to  weep  ?  May  I  not  be  permitted  to 
weep  my  fill  ?  They  have  carried  away  my  Christ  from 
me.  We  see  then  two  things  in  her.  They  have  taken 
away  my  Christ.  He  is  dead,  and  they  have  borne 
Him  to  another  place,  and  I  wot  not  where  he  is  :  but 
yet  howbeit  He  be  away,  He  is  viy  Lord,  The  Note 
then  is  this  : 

Dead  Christ,  as  ye  think  ;  a  hidden,  and  a  frowning 
Christ  may  be  thy  Christ,  and  viy  Christ,  (Isaiah 
xlix.  14)  ''  But  Zion  said,  The  Lord  hath  forsaken  me, 
and  my  Lord  hath  forgotten  me."  Then  a  forsaking 
God  may  be  Zion's  God.  When  faith  and  fainting  are 
wrestling  a  fall  together,  faith  keeps  a  hank"^  of  Christ 
in  its  own  hand.  Faith  can  say,  Christ  is  not  dead, 
albeit  there  be  a  hundred  miles  betwixt  Him  and  me; 
yet  He  is  my  Christ,  ''  my  Lord,  and  my  God."  The 
child  of  God  may  be  driven  from  many  holds,  and 
from  the  faith  of  his  rising  again  from  the  dead, 
and  from  the  faith  of  many  sweet  promises,  and, 
fainting  and  doubting,  may  slander  Christ,  and  say. 
He  is  unkind  and  away :  but  there  is  aye  an  hold  to 
the  fore,t  and  faith  says,  "He  is  my  God."  Like  a  cap- 
tain besieged  when  there  are  many  walls  battered  down 
to  him,  and  the  enemy  has  taken  in  mickle  ground 
about  him,  and  taken  all  the  outer  works,  yet  there  is 
aye  one  castle  untaken  and  to  the  fore  that  cannot  be 
taken. 

They  say.  The  hold  that  a  dying  man  gets  of  a 
thing,  he  keeps  it  till  death.  The  dead-hold  that  a 
child  of  God  gets  of  Christ  it  keeps  for  ever.  It  is 
good  if  we  can  stick  to  Christ  any  way,  either  dead 

*  A  tie  of  connection.       t  A  fortress  still  in  existence. 


COMMUNIOK  SERMONS,  179 


Christ  or  living  Christ,  whether  kend  Christ  or  un- 
kend  Christ,  we  must  still  keep  something,  or  we  lose 
all.  Let  us  keep  a  hold  of  the  hand  that  strikes  us, 
and  kiss  it,  if  w^e  cannot  get  His  face  and  neck  to  kiss. 

We  count  little  of  Christ  wlien  we  have  our  fill  of 
Him,  and  w^hen  He  is  living,  but  stay  until  hunger 
come,  and  then  ye  would  give  a  world  for  His  dead 
body.  There  is  such  a  hunger  in  Mary  Magdalene 
that  she  would  be  glad  even  to  have  dead  Christ  in 
her  arms  !  She  thinks  it  is  better  than  nothing  !  Mary 
seeks  no  better  than  to  have  her  arms  full  of  dead 
Christ. 

Sometimes  we  let  good  meat  spill,  and  count  little 
of  it !  We  think  Httle  of  His  company  at  Com- 
munions :  there  is  a  day  coming,  wherein  ye  shall 
be  bl)1;h"^  of  a  small  crumb  of  Christ's  bread.  Were  ye 
hungry,  as  may  be  ye  wall  w^hen  this  board  is  drawn : 
ye  shall  be  blyth  of  a  touch  of  the  hem  of  His  gar- 
ment and  a  kiss  of  His  feet.  Little  ken  ye  what  it  is 
to  want.  (Lam.  i.  16),  "'For  these  things  I  weep  : 
mine  eye,  mine  eye  runneth  down  w^ith  waiter,  because 
the  Comforter  that  should  relieve  my  soul  is  far  from 
me."  I  trow^  that  was  no  bairn's  play.  (Psalm  Ixxvii. 
3),  ^^1  remembered  God,  and  was  troubled,"  how  in 
former  times  He  embraced  me,  and  loved  me ;  but 
now  He  has  left  me,  and  I  know  not  w^hat  to  do.  "  I 
complained,  and  my  spirit  was  overw^helmed."  Wliat 
is  that?  ''I  remembered  God,  and  was  troubled." 
Should  it  not  rather  have  been,  I  remembered  God, 
and  leaped  for  joy?  Nay,  I  remembered  God,  He 
that  once  remembered  me,  and  loved  me,  but  now  He 
has  left  me,  and  I  knov/  not  what  to  do  !  At  such  a 
time  a  blink  of  God,  howbeit  it  were  as  short  as  a 

*  Glad  to  gQt» 


l8o  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


flash  of  fire  in  the  air,  it  were  half  a  heaven.  It  were 
good  we  were  all  at  Mary's  part  of  it,  "  They  have 
taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have 
laid  Him." 

She  says,  "  I  k?iow  not  where  they  have  laid  Him.^^ 
' — A  sore  matter  to  lose  Christ :  but  a  sorer  matter 
not  to  know  w^here  to  find  Him.  It  is  a  trial  both  to 
want  Christ,  and  not  to  know  where  to  find  Him. 
Says  the  spouse,  "  Saw  ye  Him  whom  my  soul  loveth  ? 
If  ye  find  Him,  tell  Him  I  am  sick  of  love."  Some- 
times it  will  be  that  the  children  of  God  will  seek 
Him  in  many  wynds,"  and  not  find  Him  in  prayer,  in 
the  word,  nor  at  the  holy  table,  nor  in  reading,  nor  in 
conference.  They  will,  as  it  were,  follow  Christ  from 
place  to  place,  and  not  know  where  to  find  Him  ;  they 
know  not  where  He  is. 

"/  hnow  not  where  they  have  laid  HimT — She 
believed  that  Christ  was  yet  dead,  and  this  was  her 
ignorance  and  infidelity ;  for  He  had  often  told  them 
that  He  would  rise  again,  but  they  believed  Him 
not.  Then  we  see  that  there  is  ignorance  even  with 
a  good  and  hearty  affection  to  Christ,  in  God's  chil- 
dren. In  Cant.  v.  5,  there  we  see  a  church  both  sleep- 
ing and  wrestling  at  once.  Nicodemus  loved  Christ's 
company,  yet  there  was  great  ignorance  in  him.  The 
Lord's  disciples  followed  Him,  and  yet  they  were  fools 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  the  Scriptures  (Luke  xxiv. 
25).  Our  soul  is  like  a  harp,  wherein  there  is  a  broken 
or  mistuned  string ;  our  mind  and  our  affections  are 
like  a  broken  or  lame  leg.  We  have  some  light  in  the 
mind,  but  our  affections  are  cold  like  lead.  And  when 
the  affections  are  blown  upon  by  the  wind  ot  the 
Spirit,  the   mind   and   memory  both   may  have  the 

*  Out  of  the  way  streets. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  i8i 


truant  sickness;  nay,  if  God  yoke  them  not  all,  and 
drive  them  up  the  furrows,  some  piece  or  other  will 
lie  back  like  a  lazy  ox.  There  is  aye  a  crook  or  halt 
in  us,  so  that  we  go  crooked  to  heaven,  as  Jacob  did. 
But  a  sound,  hearty  affection,  even  an  ounce  of  it,  is 
worth  a  stone  weight  of  dim  light.  Alas  !  This  age 
hath  light,  but  it  is  barrelled  up.  We  start  all  up  to 
be  professors  !  but  few  have  the  furniture  for  heaven. 
God  forbid,  that  I  should  discourage  any,  but  I  see 
men  contenting  themselves  with  too  little;  some  light, 
and  w^eak  love,  to  the  word,  and  the  preacher,  and 
still  their  old  sins  and  old  jog-trot'"'  is  kept ;  and  as 
dead  in  practice  and  reformation  of  life  as  they  were 
ten  years  ago,  and  some  of  them  worse.  Now  in  the 
name  and  authority  of  the  Son  of  God,  try  that  it  be 
good  sufficient  work;  see  that  it  be  stamped  and 
sealed  with  Christ's  arms. 

"  She  turned  herself  about  J  ^ — I  see  the  angels  cannot 
help  a  w^ounded  conscience  that  has  lost  a  hold  of 
Christ  (Cant.  iii.  i,  2,  3).  The  watchmen  could  not 
lead  the  church  to  Christ,  unto  Him  whom  her  soul 
loved.  Nay,  in  prayer  sometimes  He  cannot  be  gotten, 
(Psalm  xxii.  2),  '^  O  my  God,  I  cry  in  the  daytime,  but 
thou  hearest  not :  and  in  the  night  season,  and  am  not 
silent.''  What  meant  the  prophet's  dry  throat,  and 
yet  could  not  get  God?  Job  says,  chap.  xiii.  24, 
God  hideth  His  face.  In  the  Word  there  is  often  such 
deadness  that  the  child  of  God  cannot  win  to  his  feet : 
and  they  may  wonder  who  have  seen  and  had  the  ex- 
perience of  defection.  Will  ye  not  say.  When  God 
iays  His  finger  on  the  soul,  and  breaks  a  string  of  the 
conscience,  what  means  will  be  used  to  get  a  knot  on 
this  broken  string,  and  to  get  the  broken  bone  knit 

Slow  and  slovenly  pace. 


1 82  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


again  ?  1  grant  you  God  (in  prayer)  has  been  found, 
but  I  am  speaking  of  a  presence,  or  of  an  access  to  a 
blink  of  Christ ;  I  have  experience  to  say  with  me,  and 
I  knew  it  of  late.  Wot  ye  that  presence  and  comfort 
is  sweet  meat,  and  not  for  Christ's  bairns'  ordinary  food? 
There  is  a  time  or  tide  when  the  wind  bloweth  where 
it  listeth,  even  after  the  use  of  means.  Christ  will  come, 
and  there  is  but  deadness  in  the  meantime,  when  ye 
can  neither  feel,  see,  nor  hear  Christ.  Then  ye  may 
say.  What  shall  we  do,  if  means  prevail  not  ? 

Aiiswer,  I  know  no  child  of  God,  who  is  ever  in 
such  a  case,  as  they  can  neither  hear,  see,  nor  feel. 
The  sleeping  Church  has  a  waking  heart  (Cant.  v.  i). 
Grace  to  miss  Christ  is  some  feeling,  hearing,  and  see- 
ing. Those  who  are  in  Saul's  case  (i  Sam.  xxviii.  15), 
who  said,  '^  I  am  sore  distressed,  the  Lord  is  departed 
from  me,"  are  in  a  sad  taking  :  but  the  children  of  God 
may  blame  themselves,  w^ho  are  in  the  exercise  of  con- 
science seeking  comfort  and  do  not  find  it.  I  say  I 
forbid  not  but  that  they  pray,  hear,  read ;  yea,  use  all 
means  for  it ;  but  I  w^ould  have  them  doing  two  things. 

1.  That  ye  would  continue  to  cry,  look  heaven's 
height,  and  be  very  impatient  till  you  get  your  rights 
and  a  new  stamp.  Sleep  not,  eat  not,  rest  not,  until 
He  come  agam.  Complain,  fret,  make  haste,  long,  and 
hunger,  for  Christ.  Look  up  as  if  ye  were  angry  at 
the  clouds  that  hide  Him  and  hinder  you  to  see 
Him.  Shall  one  bid  men  fall  asleep  who  have  lost 
Christ? 

2.  Yet  be  very  patient  and  submissive,  binding  Him 
to  no  time  or  manner  of  coming.  (Psalm xl.  i),  "I 
waited  patiently  on  the  Lord,  and  He  inclined  His 
ear,  and  heard  my  cry."  Then  David  both  cried,  and 
shouted,  and  yet  had  patience.  Is  a  shouting  and  cry- 
ing man  a  patient  man  ?     I  say  he  is,  2  Peter,  iii.  12. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  183 


Wait  on  and  hasten  to  the  day  of  the  Son  of  God. 
See  if  I  He. 

^^  And  saiu  jFesiis  and  kneio  Him  notP — As  in  the 
body  seeing  and  hearing  went  out,  so  in  the  soul  we 
may  see  Christ,  and  not  know  Him.  Many  have  hght, 
as  sick  men  have  meat  at  their  bedside,  but  cannot  use 
it.  But  here  is  the  matter;  at  every  new  meeting 
we  misken-''  Christ.  While  your  soul  is  sick,  and 
while  He  kens  not  you,  the  acquaintance  is  aye  to 
make  over  again.  He  must  blow  the  coal ;  Christ's 
hot  head  must  warm  our  cold  ones,  and  His  living 
hand  must  hold  our  dead  hands  and  quicken  them, 
and  then  we  begin  to  stir  our  fingers,  and  to  take  hold 
of  Him.  But  if  Christ  be  but  three  days  away,  we  are 
to  begin  at  A  B  C  again.  He  left  Peter  but  a  while 
of  a  day  or  night,  and  Peter  forsook  Him,  and  never 
repented  till  the  Lord  looked  a  loving  look  to  him 
that  awakened  him.  He  turned  a  little  from  His  dis- 
ciples and  they  forsook  Him  and  fled,  and  never  wan 
to  their  feet  again  till  He  reproved  them  for  their 
infidelity  and  opened  their  hearts.  He  knows  a 
weak  sheep  fallen  into  a  pit  or  hole  that  cannot  win 
out  itself.  Christ  aye  looseth  the  fankledf  lamb,  bleat- 
ing and  bleeding  in  the  thorny  bush.  A  bow  can- 
not bend  itself,  a  man's  arm  must  do  it ;  it  cannot 
shoot  itself,  a  hand  must  put  the  arrow  on  the  string, 
and  draw  and  loose  it.  So  ye  must  learn  the  gate|  to 
heaven.  It  is  a  borrowing  life  we  have  here  !  We  are 
aye  falling,  and  Christ  is  aye  setting  us  to  our  feet 
again  !  I  see  Christ  must  be  cumbered  in  leading  us 
the  right  gate  to  heaven.  I  think  I  have  mind  of  an 
old  crazy  barque,  each  dash  it  gets  on  a  rock  it  falls  out 
in  a  hole,  and  new  timber  must  be  put  in ;  and  the 

*  Mistake;  misapprehend,      t  Tied  up.       j  The  way. 


1 84  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


next  day  it  gets  another  dash,  and  a  whole  board  falls 
out,  and  a  new  board  must  be  put  in  again.  This  is 
like  our  conscience,  this  crazy  soul  of  ours,  having 
rotten  timber  in  it.  A  dash  of  desertion  for  three 
days  makes  a  crack  in  Mary  Magdalene's  soul,  that 
she  sees  Christ,  and  sees  Him  not !  David  dashed 
against  a  rock  of  lust,  and  falls  out  in  a  wide  rent  of 
adultery  and  murder.  Peter's  old  barque  gets  a  knock 
of  fear,  and  he  falls  out  in  denial  of  his  Lord.  The 
Lord's  fore-hammer  lighted  upon  the  disciples,  and 
they  fall  out  with  a  love  of  honour  and  ease  here ;  and 
they  fall  out  in  a  great  rent,  and  think  He  shall  make 
them  great  men  in  the  world,  and  restore  again  the 
kingdom  to  Israel.  I  tell  you  Christ  must  aye  be 
putting  in  new  timber  till  all  be  made  new  work,  for 
Christ  will  take  old  Adam's  rotten  timber  out  of  us, 
and  mickle  work  it  is  to  make  this  old  crazy  con- 
science new,  that  is  like  to  fall  to  flinders.* 

yesiis  saith  to  her,  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  V^ — 
What  needs  Christ  question  thus  ?  Why  should  Christ 
ask  at  a  broken-hearted  woman,  seeking  none  but 
Christ,  Why  weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest  thou? 
Ye  know  a  father  will  be  minded  to  give  an  apple  to 
his  bairn,  and  he  will  say,  holding  it  out,  Will  ye  have 
that  ?  Ye  know  He  said  to  a  poor  man,  "  Wilt  thou 
be  made  whole  ?"  There  may  be  some  souls  longing 
for  Him  this  day,  and  yet  He  say.  My  dear  people, 
tell  ]\Ie  Avhom  ye  would  have,  and  whom  seek  ye? 
See  here,  there  was  a  fault  in  her  desire ;  she  sought 
a  dead  Christ,  or  His  dead  body,  and  He  would  have 
her  to  seek  a  living  Christ.  And  therefore,  look,  when 
ye  are  seeking  Christ,  that  there  be  not  a  fault  in  your 
desire ;  ye  are  perhaps  serving  yourselves  when  ye  are 

*  Pieces;  shivers. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  185 


seeking  Him.  Ye  are  all  seeking  comfort,  and  He 
perhaps  brought  you  here  to  hear  nothing  but  convic- 
tion, and  to  humble  your  proud  hearts.  When  we  are 
seeking  God,  and  our  affections  opened,  the  devil  can 
shute'^'  in  his  arm  to  the  shoulder  blades,  and  cast  in 
a  handful  of  his  drafff  and  spoil  the  mask.  J  Who 
would  think  that  a  woman  weeping  for  Christ  was 
wrong?  and  yet  she  knows  not  whom  she  seeketh? 
Yea,  at  Communions,  let  me  ask,  for  Christ's  sake, 
whom  ye  are  seeking  ?  Ye  will  say,  Christ.  I  say, 
Would  to  God  it  Avere  so.  I  will  have  nothing,  says 
one,  but  comfort.  I  will  have  nothing,  says  another, 
but  a  soft  heart.  And  a  third  comes  because  it  is  the 
fashion !  I  will  ask  at  these  souls.  Whom  seekest 
thou  ?  Painted  hypocrite  ;  plastered,  rotten,  dis- 
sembler, thou  art  seeking  the  devil  and  condemnation 
to  thyself. 

^^  She  supposing  Him  to  he  the  Gardener,^^ — Her 
mind  was  confounded  with  sorrow  and  infidelity  in 
her  heart,  and  the  Lord  held  her  eyes  that  she  kend 
not  Christ  to  be  Christ ;  and  yet  Christ  looked  more 
heavenly-like  than  He  wont  to  do. 

Doctrine.  Then  a  child  of  God  may  be  speaking 
to  Him,  and  not  ken  Him.  Alas  !  we  often  measure 
Him  by  our  own  foot !  So  Job  takes  the  Lord  to  be 
a  changed  Lord,  another  God  to  him,  and  one  that 
w^as  turned  to  be  his  enemy !  And  so  did  Jonah, 
Jeremiah,  Elijah,  Habakkuk,  &c.,  in  their  wrestlings. 
For  infidelity  is  a  thick  mask  upon  men's  eyes ;  and 
who  are  they  whom  Satan  will  not  blindfold?  He 
would  have  put  a  mask  upon  Christ's  eyes,  and  put 
all  the  world's  glory  betwixt  Him  and  His  Father !  but 
Christ  saw  through  the  mask.    And  Satan  would  have 


'  Thrust  in.    t  Refuse  dregs.    X  The  infusion;  the  brewing. 


1 86  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


laid  court,  honour,  and  pleasures  of  sin  before  Moses' 
eyes,  but  God  rent  the  mask,  and  he  looked  to  the 
recompense  of  reward.  The  devil  laid  gold  over 
Balaam's  eyes.  Has  not  that  trumpet  of  Rome  made 
Christ  the  gardener  ?  There  is  no  Christ  in  question 
or  request  now  but  that  which  rides  in  Parliament ! 
They  have  put  silks  *  on  Christ  and  His  Kirk,  and 
they  will  not  wear  them.  I  pray  you  cast  off  the 
devil's  hoods  and  his  masks,  and  seek  from  Christ 
the  salve,  to  see  Christ  to  be  Christ. 

"  Tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  Himr — What  a  lift 
would  this  corpse  have  been?  Would  not  dead 
Christ,  His  grave  clothes,  and  an  hundred  pound 
weight  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  that  was  laid  upon  His 
body,  have  been  a  heavy  lift  to  a  woman  ?  Six  stone 
weight  or  more?  Yet  Mary  says  she  would  bear 
Him  hence,  nay,  though  she  could  not,  she  would 
taket  a  lift  of  Him  till  her  back  cracked,  and  her  arm 
guard  had  been  out  of  Hth,t  but  she  would  have  had 
Him. 

Doctrine.  I.ove  has  strong  broad  shoulders  :  the 
high  mountains  and  the  heavy  burdens  will  not  tire 
love.  Love  will  never  sweat,  faint,  nor  fall  in  a  swoon, 
for  God  helpeth  love.  Love  is  as  strong  as  death,  or 
the  grave  (Cant.  viii.  6).  Get  love,  and  no  burden 
Christ  will  lay  on  you  will  be  heavy.  Were  not  the 
martyrs  fraughted§  with  love  when  heavy  death  and 
burning  quick  did  not  weight  them  when  it  was  laid 
on  them  ?  But  love  made  them  run  up  the  moun- 
tains with  death  and  tortures  on  their  back  !  Lay 
all  hell  upon  a  soul  that  has  love  to  Christ,  he 
will  run  with  the  burden.     Seek  and  get  love,  and  it 

*  And  these  are  things  which  Christ  and  His  Church  reject, 
t  Try  to  lift  Him.  %  Joint.  §  Freighted. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  187 


will  make  you  bear  sufferings  :  for  love  will  not  burst 
at  the  broad  side.  Came  not  Moses  from  the  court, 
with  his  back  laden  with  affection  to  the  people  of 
God,  and  tired  not  ? 

*'  yesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary^ — See  Christ  calleth 
upon  Mary  by  her  name.  Thus  it  is  no  dry  general 
acquaintance  that  Christ  has  with  His  own.  As  ye 
use  to  say,  It  is  hard  to  know  such  a  man,  but  I  have 
seen  him.  Nay,  but  Christ  knows  all  His  sheep  by  the 
head.  (Luke  xix.  5),  *^ Jesus  looked  up,  and  said.  Come 
down,  Zaccheus,  make  haste  and  come  down,  for  to- 
day I  must  abide  at  thine  house."  (See  John  i.  48), 
"  Before  that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast 
under  the  fig-tree,  1  saw  thee."  (John  x.  14),  "  I  am 
the 'good  Shepherd,  I  know  My  sheep."  This  be- 
hoved to  be  Christ,  He  is  not  such  a  rash  merchant, 
but  He  saw  His  wares,  and  kend  them  all  by  their 
names  ere  He  laid  down  a  price  for  them.  Nay,  God 
brought  them  all  before  Him,  and  said.  By  their 
dwellings  and  names  take  them ;  and  I  will  give  the 
ends  of  the  earth  for  Thy  inheritance.  He  shall  get 
all  beyond  the  river  (Zeph.  iii.  10),  the  dispersed  of 
Judah,  &c.  (Isaiah  vi.  10).  All  these  are  His.  The 
Father  hath  said.  Son,  Ye  shall  not  work  for  nothing. 
What  think  Ye  of  your  wares  ?  how  please  your  goods 
and  mine  ?  And  His  Father  gave  Him  a  fair  roll  of 
ail  their  names,  by  the  head,  man  and  woman,  as 
particularly  as  He  had  named  them,  John,  Thomas, 
Mary,  &c.  And  the  whole  flock  was  marked.  As 
when  a  man  out  of  a  great  flock  selleth  so  many 
sheep,  and  sets  them  by  for  the  merchant;  he  lets 
him  see  his  wares,  and  he  puts  his  mark  upon 
them.  So  the  world,  even  all  mankind,  was  a  great 
flock  before   God,   and  the  Father  gave  Christ  the 


1 88  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


pick*  of  the  market.  And  He  chose  so  many  out  of  the 
flock,  and  bargained  with  Him  for  them.  And  the 
Father  toldf  them  all  over  to  the  Son,  a  fair  num- 
ber of  bairns,  saying,  Take  them,  Son ;  but  ye  shall 
pay  dear  for  them.  And  they  were  all  of  God's 
mark  and  Christ's  mark  together;  and  Christ  kens 
what  fields  they  go  in ;  and  He  has  them  booked, 
and  calls  them,  and  puts  the  Mediator's  name  on 
them — the  new  name,  even  His  mark.  So  here  is  the 
reason  why,  of  two  or  three  thousand  in  one  kirk  to- 
gether where  the  word  is  preached,  Christ  calls  out 
one  man  by  name,  and  the  other  by  name.  I  trow  it 
is  because  here  is  Christ's  bought  wares.  He  is  up  in 
the  count.  The  Father  must  keep  condition  with 
Christ,  for  He  got  arles|  (as  you  say)  in  Abel's  days,  and 
He  must  keep  remembrance  of  all  His  sheep.  But 
ye  will  say,  Alas  !  Christ  has  forgotten  me.  Well,  be- 
ware of  that.  Will  ye  say  the  Father  has  miscounted 
a  sheep,  and  Christ  has  lost  a  sheep  in  the  telling  ? 
Then  He  is  sleepy  and  careless.  But  it  is  not  so. 
This  is  a  sweet  thing  that  He  cares  for  you ;  thou  art 
up  in  my  books,  John,  Mary,  &c.  Ye  are  up  in  the 
white  roll,  and  on  that  condition  I  give  to  you  myself, 
my  flesh  and  my  blood,  this  day.  O  then  be  blythe§ 
man,  thou  wilt  not  fall  ||  by  in  the  telling.  There  is  no 
miscount  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  but  faithful 
and  sicker. If  I  pray  you  tell  me  when  heard  you 
Christ  name  you  by  name  ?  I  tell  you  when  you  think 
each  promise  is  spoken  to  you  by  name,  and  when  you 
say,  Yon  is  spoken  firm.  And  as  when  a  roll  is  call- 
ing, each  one  cries  here,  "Here,"  to  his  own  name. 


*  The  choicest  of.  t  Counted. 

X  An  earnest ;  pledge  of  what  was  to  cdme.     §  Glad  ;  cheery. 

II  Be  overlooked.  ^  Firm  ;  secure. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  189 


Then  when  the  gospel  is  preaching,  Christ  is  a  calling 
the  roll,  your  soul,  with  joy  beliveth  when  ye  cry,  Here, 
here.  Lord  Jesus.  Therefore  take  good  tent  when  ye 
hear  your  own  names  called,  and  answer  them. 

''  She  saith  unto  Him,  Rabbo?ii.^' — Thereby  acknow- 
ledging herself  Christ's  scholar,  and  Christ  to  be  her 
master. 

Obsef-ve.  Here  is  but  a  short  preaching  that  Christ 
makes.  He  says  but  one  word,  Mary :  but  it  is 
more  than  a  word  ;  and  Mary  presently  knows.  So 
soon  as  ever  Christ  speaks,  the  kirk  saith,  "  It  is  the 
voice  of  my  beloved  ! ''  A  wife  who  has  wanted  her 
husband  seven  years,  when  He  returns  she  hears  his 
tongue  in  the  closs,  and  shouts  and  cries,  Its  my  dear 
husband's  tongue,  and  comes  out  to  meet  him.  "  It 
is  I,  be  not  afraid  "  (Matt.  xiv.  27).  And  they  kend  His 
tongue,  and  presently  received  Him  into  the  ship. 
Christ  may  learn  us  all  to  preach ;  for  one  of  His 
preachings  is  worth  a  horse-load  of  our  preachings;  He 
has  the  tongue  of  the  learned  indeed.  With  His 
mouth  He  can  blow  up  iron  doors.  Well  kens  He  all 
the  back-springes**  and  double  locks  of  the  soul,  and 
how  Satan  has  need-nailedf  the  door.  Christ  has  the 
way  of  it,  and  can  draw  the  bolt  with  His  voice.  So 
then  when  Christ  cometh  and  speaketh.  He  brings 
His  word  with  Him.  When  the  devil  comes  he  has 
a  dumb  knock;  he  raps  but  will  not  speak.  He 
cannot  bring  the  word  with  him,  or  it  is  a  hollow 
earthly  voice  and  harsh,  aye  crying,  Clay,  clay !  court, 
honour,  the  world,  your  lusts,  your  fill !  This  is  not 
like  Christ's  tongue.  An  image  speaks  not ;  the 
dumb  ceremonies  have  not  a  tongue ;  they  speak  not 
to  the  soul ;  they  have  a  dead  knock.     I  shall  be  an- 

*  A  springe  is  a  gin,  or  snare  made  of  wire,     t  Strongly  nailed. 


190 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


swerable  when  they  come  you  shall  break  your  heart 
and  say,  Yon  is  not  Christ's  tongue. 

''  Rabbo?7iy — Mary  had  been  seekmg  a  dead  Christ, 
and  thought  He  had  not  been  risen ;  and  she  gets  a 
living  Christ.  Doct7'ine.  No  man  ever  went  to  seek 
Christ  in  a  right  way,  but  he  got  more  than  he  sought ! 
The  woman  of  Canaan  sought  a  crumb  under  the  board 
with  the  dogs ;  but  ere  Christ  and  she  parted,  I  trow 
He  set  her  at  the  boardhead  above  all  Israel. 

The  forlorn"^  son  came  home,  and  he  would  be  no- 
thing but  a  servant;  he  craved  but  to  stand  at  the 
by-board.  He  speaks  but  of  dry-bread;  he  spake  not 
of  whole  clothes ;  but  his  Father  put  on  him  the  best 
robe,  and  a  ring  on  his  finger,  and  killed  the  fatted 
calf,  and  set  him  at  the  high  board,  and  at  the  first 
mess.  "  He  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power 
that  worketh  in  us "  (Eph.  iii.  20). 

Now  ye  hear  us  speak  of  Christ ;  ye  come  to  seek 
Him;  ye  think  there  is  much  in  Him.  Come  and 
see,  and  taste,  and  ye  shall  feel  that  there  is  a  hun- 
dred thousand  degrees  more !  See  then  that  you 
make  an  errand  to  Christ,  for  a  sick  bairn,  for  a 
weak  body,  for  a  troubled  friend;  and  ye  shall  get 
more  than  ye  seek  !  Ken  ye  not  that  poor  folks  are 
glad  to  get  an  errand  to  a  hall-house  ?t  If  they  can 
make  an  errand  they  ken  they  will  find  plenty  there  ! 
Christ  is  a  hall-house  :  go  to  Him. 

"  Jesics  sayeth  7into  her,  Touch  Me  notT — Matthew 
says,  the  women  held  Him  by  the  feet ;  and  no  ques- 
tion Mary  was  hanging  about  His  neck  to  kiss  Him, 
and  would  have  thrust  Him  into  her  heart.  But 
Christ   says,  "  Touch  Me  not."      Alas  !  (might   she 

*  Lost  prodigal.  t  The  mansion  of  a  rich  man. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


191 


think)  what  means  this  ?  Ye  may  wonder  what  ails 
Him  at  the  poor  woman  !  Trow  ye  Christ  was  grown 
lordlier?  Was  He  more  lordly  than  He  was,  because 
He  was  risen  and  glorified  in  part?  Or,  will  lordships 
change  manners  with  Him  ?  No.  Its  true  He  forbids 
her ;  it  was  a  fault  in  her  seeking  to  touch  Him ;  she 
doated  too  much  on  His  bodily  presence;  and  thought 
He  had  come  up  again  to  live  on  the  earth,  and  to 
eat  and  drink  \sdth  publicans  and  sinners  as  He  was 
wont  to  do.  But  He  will  not  feed  her  foolish  love ; 
Christ  would  have  wise  love.  Ye  are  aye  craving 
sense,  joy,  comfort.  Look  if  that  be  wise  love  of 
yours,  and  that  ye  serve  not  always  your  pleasure, 
and  delight  in  Christ,  but  not  for  Christ  Himself.  I 
say,  seek  yourself  in  Christ  and  your  joy ;  but  not  for 
yourself.  I  pray  you  mark  this;  we  are  beguiled  often 
in  our  seeking  of  Christ,  for  Christ  here  would  be  at 
another  thing. 

"  Touch  vie7iot^  I  am  not  yd  asceiided^^  8zc. — It  is  as 
much  as  to  say.  When  I  go  to  heaven  and  send  do^Mi 
the  Holy  Ghost  upon  thee,  thou  shalt  then  touch  Me 
by  faith  thy  fill :  but  now  hold  thy  hand,  hold  thee 
by  that  thou  hast.  When,  I  say,  Christ,  for  causes 
kno^^Tl  to  Himself,  will  give  you  no  aumus,^  nill  ye, 
will  ye,  then  ye  should  not  be  in  a  marvel  that  ye  do 
not  see  Christ !  Rent  not  your  billsf  until  I  tell  you 
Christ  will  cry  to  His  beggars.  Ye  will  not  be  served 
at  this  time. 

Take  an  Answer.  Now,  I  come  to  answer  expe- 
rience here.  Will  ye  not  pray,  and  come  from  God  as 
it  were  with  empty  wind  and  nothing? 

Ans'iue?'.  Christ  said,  "  Touch  Me  not :"  ye  were 
perhaps  seeking  to  play  yourself  like  a  bairn   with 

*  Alms.       t  Tear  not  in  pieces  your  petition. 


192 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Christ ;  and  He  will  let  you  know  He  is  Christ.  He 
is  not  a  Christ  to  play  bairns  with.  So  after  we  would 
have  joy  and  comfort  in  Christ  for  our  pleasure,  is 
often  as  bairns  that  would  have  a  painted  hat  to  play 
with.  Ye  think,  so  soon  as  ye  knock  and  pray,  no 
more  should  be,  but  that  all  heaven's  gates  should  be 
opened  or  casten  up,  and  that  the  King  will  come  out 
and  meet  you  immediately,  and  take  you  into  the 
house  of  wine,  ^"ay,  but  stay :  what  haste  ?  stay,  at 
leisure,  and  ask  at  your  souls  what  ye  are  seeking 
when  ye  seek  sense  and  joy.  If  ye  be  not  out  of  your- 
selves, and  seek  it  not  for  this  end,  that  ye  may  be 
hearted*  to  pray,  and  hearted  to  go  up  the  mountain 
to  heaven,  I  say,  Beware  ye  find  not  a  closed  door : 
and  howbeit  this  were  not,  beware.  "Touch  Me  not," 
is  good  and  sweet  meet  for  you.  Stand  and  knock, 
and  go  away,  and  come  again  and  knock ;  and  that 
draws  out  faith  in  a  long  and  strong  thread.  And 
that  is  as  good  for  you  as  if  Christ  and  you  had  met 
at  first.  For  know  ye  that  access,  feeling,  and  liberty, 
are  graces  ?  And  He  will  give  them  but  when  He 
pleases :  and  it  is  best  that  Christ  make  delicates  of 
such  good  cheer. 

But  what  is  the  best  mark  then  in  seeking  of  Christ? 

Answer.  Take  Christ  anyway  :  if  He  be  here,  it  is 
He  ;  if  there,  it  is  He.  Be  as  content  with  Him  with 
tears  and  down-casting  as  in  tears  and  joy.  Nay,  here 
is  a  second  mark — If  you  can  take  Him  out  of  hell 
smoking  in  your  arms.  But  to  seek  comfort  in  Christ 
is  not  to  seek  Christ,  say  ye  ?  I  answer.  If  ye  seek 
Christ  for  comfort,  and  not  comfort  for  Christ,  and  joy. 
If  ye  ask  how  these  are  differenced  ?  I  answer,  Even 
as  the  spouse  loves  the  bridegroom,  not  for  his  fair 

Encouraged 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  193 


clothes,  and  gold  rings  and  bracelets,  but  for  himself. 
So  must  ye  seek  Christ  for  Himself,  and  not  Christ  for 
comfort.  For,  I  say,  Joy  and  comfort  is  but  the  bride- 
groom's jewels  ;  but  the  bridegroom  himself  is  better. 
Nay,  a  convicting  and  rebuking  Christ  is  no  less  true 
than  a  loving  Christ !  Then  I  say,  It  is  not  Christ,  but 
His  love  ye  would  be  at. 

"  To7uh  Me  not,  for  I  am  not  yd  ascended  to  My 
Father.'' — Christ  brings  His  word  with  a  reason;  when 
I  am  ascended  into  heaven,  then  ye  shall  get  touching 
Me  your  fill,  wait  on  till  that  time.  So  this  is  no  abso- 
lute nay-say,  but  a  delay. 

Doctrine,  There  is  never  one  of  Christ's  refusals, 
but  they  are  mixed  with  hope ;  the  seed  of  faith  and 
hope  is  in  them.  So  He  said  to  the  woman  of  Canaan, 
let  the  children  be  first  served.  There  is  no  refusal, 
but  He  puts  her  in  hopes  that  when  the  Jews  had 
gotten  their  dinner,  then  the  poor  woman  should  get 
the  broken  meat.  Paul,  w^hen  buffeted,  prayed.  Christ 
returned  the  answer,  ^'My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.'' 
This  was  a  good  answer.  When  the  disciples  would 
fain  have  had  Christ  abiding  with  them,  He  said,  Nay, 
but  this  nay  had  with  it,  "  But  I  will  come  and  receive 
you  to  Myself"  Then  take  not  Christ's  nay-say  at 
the  worst ;  it  is  both  sweet  and  comfortable,  and  His 
strokes  there  is  aye  that  in  them,  ^' Ye  shall  get."  Then 
Christ's  refusals  are  comfortable,  and  His  strokes  sweet 
and  healthful.  If  we  have  honest  hearts  in  seeking, 
one  way  or  another  God  shall  comfort  us. 

Being  now  risen  from  the  dead.  He  says,  ''  Go,  tell  My 
brethren^  He  would  comfort  His  brethren  w^ith  this 
comfortable  doctrine,  letting  them  see  this  glory  He  was 
to  be  advanced  to^ ;  it  took  not  away  that  communion  of 
nature  that  was  b  ctween  Him  and  them  :  therefore  He 
is  not  ashamed  \o  call  them  brethren.     (Heb.  ii.  11) 

N 


194 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


We  have  one  God,  they  and  I  are  halfers  together. 
And  more  than  that,  we  are  Father's  bairns.  God  is 
their  Father  and  my  Father.  So  we  have  one  mother; 
for  Christ  was  born  of  the  kirk.  '^  Go  forth,  O  ye 
daughters  of  Jerusalem,  and  behold  King  Solomon 
with  the  crown  wherewith  his  mother  crowned  him 
in  the  day  of  his  espousals"  (Cant.  iii.  ii). 

This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  Peace,  named  by  His 
mother  the  Kirk.  But  He  was  croA\Tied  with  a  crown 
of  thorns;  and  also,  crowned  by  the  faithful  who  made 
Him  their  King.  Then  Christ  and  we  are  more  than 
half  brethren,  we  are  full  brethren ;  for  God  will  have 
no  step-bairns.  We  are  native  and  of  kin  to  Him;  all 
the  water  in  the  sea  will  not  wash  Christ's  blood  and 
ours  asunder,  for  Christ  and  we  behoved  to  be  more 
than  second  or  third  a-kin.  For  the  law's  cause,  we 
behoved  to  be  as  sib*  as  brethren  :  and  therefore,  in 
(Cant.  iv.  5)  He  calls  the  Kirk  His  Sister,  and  delights 
to  avow  His  kindred  to  her,  for  Christ  will  not  man- 
sweart  the  silliest  of  His  kindred.  Now  by  the  law, 
the  poor  brother  that  had  mortgaged  his  land,  had 
power  among  the  Jews  to  make  an  assignation  of 
his  right  to  his  brother,  or  the  nearest  of  his  kin- 
dred :  and  so  might  put  his  brother  in  the  right  of 
it.  As  an  oppressed  man,  who  is  bereft  of  his  in- 
heritance, and  has  not  moyen  nor  means  to  double 
out  his  matter  by  law,  he  makes  an  assignation  of  his 
right  to  his  nearest  friend  or  chief,  who  has  means 
and  moyen  to  win  the  action ;  and  that  friend  has  it 
also  in  his  power  to  put  the  poor  oppressed  man  in 
his  place  again.  So  here  :  no  one  but  God  who  is 
above  law,  having  given  to  Christ  a  body,  made  Christ 
an  assignation  to   our  bloody  bond,  which  the  law 

*  Nearly  related.  t  Perjure ;  break  His  oath  to. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  195 


and  the  justice  of  God  had  against  us.  And  when  we  ^ 
had  forfeit  paradise,  and  could  not  double  out  our 
cause,  the  kind  kinsman,  Christ-man,  was  very  kindly 
to  pardon  and  come  in  our  room  as  assignee  to  His 
poor  ruined  brethren.  And  God  put  into  the  assig- 
nation whereto  Christ's  name  was  borrowed,  three 
things. 

First,  Our  flesh  and  infirmities  as  sinless.  Secondly, 
All  our  sins,  and  whatever  followed  them.  So  Christ 
got  with  us  mickle  black  debt  and  many  cumbers. 
And  the  cursed  bond  of  the  law  was  removed,  and 
Christ  was  written  in  the  bond  accursed,  and  hanged 
on  a  tree.  And  thirdly,  Christ  was  assigned  to  our 
heaven,  and  He  named  it  to  Him,  by  us. 
I  Then  Christ  got  the  law,  and  we  the  gospel ;  and 
I  the  assignation  was  mutual.  And  this  was  sweet,  for 
Christ  made  us  assignees  to  His  bond,  and  He  was 
assignee  to  our  flesh.  He  made  the  work  so  as  we 
should  be  assignees  to  His  Spirit  and  His  grace,  that 
out  of  His  fulness  we  should  receive  grace  for  grace. 
And  so  by  law,  Christ's  grace  is  ours,  and  He  puts  us 
in  His  OAvn  place,  and  makes  us  assignees  to  His 
glor)\  (Luke  xxi.  25),  *'I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom, 
as  My  Father  hath  appointed  unto  Me.'* 

Then  believers  be  blythe.  You  are  Christ's  execu- 
tors and  assignees.*  Now  that  Christ's  testament  is 
confirmed,  inffomet  withf  His  goods,  the  law  will 
warrant  you  so  to  do. 

But  there  is  a  third  thing  in  Christ's  assignation, 
which  He  will  not  take  well  with  if  ye  refuse  it.  He 
makes  His  brethren  assignees  to  His  cross.  Ye  will 
start  at  this,  but  it  is  your  glory !  In  the  world  ye 
shall  have  tribulation,  or  affliction.     When  ye  have 

*  Persons  to  whom  possession  of  property  is  destined,     f  Use. 


196  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


subscribed  the  assignation,  the  said  binds  and  obliges 
me  to  suffer  for  Him.  Even  for  every  cuff  Christ  took 
for  you  and  me  (and  He  got  many  a  blue  stroke  for 
us),  ye  must  be  ready  to  take  a  cuff  for  Him.  And 
know  ye  there  was  a  clause  in  the  end  of  the  assigna- 
tion full  of  comfort;  Christ  gives  you  a  back-bond^ 
that  the  cross  will  not  slay  you.  Christ  says.  Brethren, 
I  bind  and  oblige  myself  I  will  not  leave  you  father- 
less, I  have  overcome  the  world,  I  will  see  you  again. 

See  then  how  ye  are  matched.  And  say  not ;  In- 
deed it  sets  us  not  to  be  handled  this  way.  But  learn 
ye  to  be  like  your  brother,  meek  and  lowly,  and  then 
ye  may  ken  ye  are  brethren.  Professors  be  like  Him ; 
ye  are  come  off  for  Christ's  cause.  Live  holily,  for 
fear  Christ  man-sweart  you ;  and  in  judgment  say,  Ye 
are  none  of  His  kindred,  "  Depart  from  Me,  I  know 
you  not.''  So,  look ;  as  your  brother  was  but  like  a 
strange  man  in  the  world,  so  must  ye  be.  Christ  will 
deny  step-bairns,  and  illegitimate  bastard  brethren 
that  are  not  bom  again. 

"  I  asce7td  to  My  Father.^' — He  sends  His  disciples 
word  or:|:  ever  He  sees  them.  He  must  up  to  heaven 
for  them.  And  therefore.  He  forbids  them  to  dream 
of  a  Christ  ever  bodily  present  with  them  on  the  earth. 
And  therefore  they  that  would  have  Christ  must  fol- 
low His  trodden  path,  and  trace  Him  all  the  gate§  to 
heaven,  and  they  shall  find  Him  there.  Ask  Him 
out  in  heaven,  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  And 
therefore  believe  His  death  and  resurrection,  and  so 
stand  there,  and  go  no  further,  nor  slip  from  Christ 
like  a  knotless  thread,  and  lose  His  footsteps.  But 
we   must   go   after   Him   to   heaven,  for   where  our 

*  A  bond  declaring  the  person  free,     t  Break  His  oath  to  you. 
:;:  Before.  §  Way- 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  i^y 


treasure  is,  there  will  our  heart  be  also  (Matt.  vi.  21). 
If  ye  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are 
above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father.  For  except  we  sunder*  with  Christ,  we  must 
be  where  He  is,  and  He  is  now  up  in  heaven.  He  is 
now  up  in  glory^  and  we  are  all  do^\^l  in  a  low  valley ; 
for  sinners  are  aye  playing  at  the  mouth  of  the  black 
pit,  like  daft  bairns  playing  at  the  brink  of  a  deep 
river.  And  Christ  is  crying,  Come  up,  come  up,  after 
Me,  lend  Me  your  hand,  I  will  draw  you  up.  O  ! 
should  He  cry.  Up  with  Me  ;  and  we  are  aye  falling 
down  upon  the  clay  of  this  earth.  He  would  have  us 
flying  to  heaven  :  and  we  are  still  creeping  upon  this 
earth.  What  will  become  of  the  worms,  and  gathering 
worldlings  ? 

A  man  that  must  ride  forty  miles  ere  night,  and  ye 
see  him  drinking  at  an  inn  at  four  o'clock  afternoon, 
thirty-nine  miles  from  his  journey's  end ;  ye  may  think 
he  purposes  not  to  be  there  that  night.  Is  it  not  after- 
noon with  our  life?  many  be  here  past  their  twelve 
hours  !  And  who  knows  how  soon  it  may  fall  on 
night  ?  and  many  have  not  gone  one  mile  to  heaven  ! 
Believe  me,  many  men  live  as  if  they  had  the  keys  of 
heaven  at  their  belt ;  and  think  to  stick  in  this  clay  of 
the  earth  all  their  days,  and  leap  to  heaven  at  their 
death,  at  one  leap  !  Believe  me,  ye  never  did  leap 
such  a  leap  in  your  life  time ;  if  ye  would  be  there,  its 
high  time  ye  were  on  horseback  already,  and  in  Christ's 
chariot  driving  and  posting  to  heaven  as  fast  as  ye  can 
or  may.  Have  ye  not  furnishing  in  heaven  before  you? 
Christ  is  there,  is  not  your  flitting  before  you  ?  Then 
up,  ye  must  after  Him.  Home,  home,  flee  for  your 
life,  this  town  ye  dwell  in,  and  all  about  it,  will  be 

*  Separate  from. 


198  COMMUNION-  SERMOXS. 


burnt  with  fire  (2  Peter  iii.  10).  Flee  then,  else  ye 
will  be  burnt  if  ye  stay  here. 

See  the  good  word  the  apostle  has  (Phil.  iii.  20), 
*'  Our  conversation  is  in  heaven  :"  our  burgess-haunt- 
ing* is  in  heaven.  And  when  ye  would  seek  a  man, 
you  must  seek  hini  where  he  haunts  and  usually  resorts 
to.  As  if  ye  seek  the  drunkard,  he  haunts  amongst  the 
barrels  !  for  he  is  but  a  living  barrel  himself,  to  fill 
and  empty,  and  to  glut  up  his  belly  again  with  a  new 
browst  !t  Would  ye  know  the  fleshly  man's  dwelling, 
where  haunts  he  ?  In  the  whore's  chamber ;  sits  he 
not  down  at  the  mouth  of  hell  ?  (as  says  Solomon)  is 
he  not  well  neighboured  ?  The  devil  and  her  are 
door  neighbours,  upon  the  march  together.  Would 
ye  see  where  the  earthly  man  haunts,  what  need  you 
ask  ?  You  shall  get  the  worm  in  the  earth  among 
clay.  Ask  where  the  child  of  God  haunts  ?  where 
haunts  he  ?  Up  in  heaven  ;  the  Saviour  and  He  can- 
not be  sundrj^i  He  is  climbing  on  His  hands  and 
feet  to  be  up.  He  is  ascending  and  desiring  to  be 
with  Christ. 

Oh  !  the  devil  leads  many  do\\ai  stairs ;  and  when 
all  is  done,  men  get  not  their  prey  on  the  earth.  I 
think  I  see  them  fishing  for  baronies,  and  thousands 
setting  their  lines  and  making  all  their  might  for 
a  draught  of  fish,  and  to  make  up  a  fair  estate  to 
them,  or  theirs.  And  then  I  may  see  the  tide,  and 
the  storm  breaking  the  lines  and  taking  them  away, 
and  they  come  home  with  empty  creels  like  traiked§ 
slippery  fishers,  both  wo||  and  slippery,  crying,  shame, 
ruined  ;  we  have  got  nothing,  but  have  lost  twenty 
pounds  worth  of  nets.     So  are  men  undoing  their 


*  Haunt  is  to  frequent  a  place  or  company.       t  A  brewing, 
t  Separated.  §  Worn  out.  ||  Sad. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


199 


souls  through  the  storm  to  seek  fishing,  and  they  lose 
their  conscience,  and  a  tide  of  temptation  takes  their 
conscience  from  them,  and  they  go  home  to  their 
grave  with  nothing.  And  some  of  them  are  forced 
to  cry,  The  soul  is  lost. 

My  beloved,  in  the  bowels  of  Christ,  who  has  given 
His  flesh  and  His  blood,  and  offered  it  to  you  this 
day,  in  the  Sacrament  of  His  Supper,  let  us  lift 
our  thoughts  from  off  this  vain  world,  and  transitory 
things  below ;  and  let  us  set  our  heart  and  affections  / 
on  things  heavenly  and  divine,  trusting  in  the  Lord  / 
through  the  whole  of  our  wilderness  journey,  and 
inquiring  for  Him  all  the  way  to  the  very  ports  and 
gates  of  heaven. 

We  must  not  attend  ordinances  for  the  fashion, 
and  according  to  use  and  wont  (as  we  say),  but  for 
His  glory,  and  our  own  soul's  salvation.  Nothing  is 
to  be  done  here,  but  upon  the  footing  of  divine 
authority.  Away,  therefore,  with  all  Romish  trash, 
will-worship,  and  superstition,  in  the  service  of  God  ! 
All  the  trumpery  of  the  Romish  harlot  ought  to  have 
no  place  in  the  House  of  God.     But  not  insisting.''^ 

Live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  your  day  and 
generation.  In  the  midst  of  trials  and  difticulties, 
trust  in  the  Lord,  and  put  your  confidence  in  Him ; 
and  there  is  no  fear  of  an  outgate,  in  the  Lord's  due 
time  and  way.  Remember,  He  saith,  I  ascend  to  My 
Father,  and  your  Father ;  to  My  God,  and  your  God  : 
Follow  ye  Me.     Amen. 


*  I  do  not  go  farther. 


SERMON        IX.'' 

/am  come  into  My  gaj-doi^  My  sister,  My  spouse,  I  have  gathered 
My  myrrh  with  My  spice,  I  have  eaten  My  honey -comb  with 
My  ho7iey,  I  have  drunk  My  wine  with  My  milk:  eat,  O 
friends,  drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly,  O  beloved,  ^c, — Song 

V.    I,   2,   &C. 

BELOVED  in  our  Lord,  hitherto  in  this  song 
there  has  been  much  love,  and  few  out-casts  f 
betwixt  Christ  and  His  church.  In  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter  (of  which  I  have  read  a  part  unto  you), 
according  to  the  Hebrew,  I  fetch  from  verse  2,  "  I 
sleep,"  &c.,  that  there  is  an  out-cast  betwixt  Him  and 
His  church.  In  other  parties  there  is  more  love  in 
wooing  than  in  the  married  state  :  for  our  love  has  a 
fair  and  sweet  honey  month,  while  it  is  green  and 
young ;  it  is  like  the  child's  new  coat,  fairest  the  first 
day.  Our  love  at  length,  so  far  as  it  is  natural,  grows 
thread  bare,  breaks  out,  and  has  need  of  mending. 
However  the  plain  contrary  is  in  the  true  love  betwixt 
Christ  and  His  Church.  This  militant  state  is  the 
period  wherein  Christ  and  His  people  differ :  but 
they  shall  agree  well  together  in  the  other  life,  in 
the  triumphant  state  above. 

This  chapter  hath  three  parts,     i.  The  lamentation 
of  the  Church,  that  she  had  offended  her  dear  one, 

*  Preached  at  a  Communion  in  Anwoth,  April  5tli,  1637. 
t  Quarrels. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  201 


Christ,  in  holding  Him  at  the  door,  with  His  wet 
frozen  head  in  the  cold  night.  For  Christ  in  coming 
to  us  got  a  terrible  blast  out  of  the  north ;  the  storm 
of  God's  indignation  was  in  His  fair  face,  and  took 
all  the  skin  off  it,  and  made  Him  a  marred  visage,  as 
it  is  in  Isaiah  lii.  14. 

2.  There  is  a  conference  betwixt  the  Church  and 
her  companions  about  Christ  and  His  worth.  In  the 
former  part,  there  is  the  Church's  confession  of  her 
wrong  to  Christ,  and  the  cause  of  holding  Him  at  the 
door  is  set  down  and  exponed.  "  I  sleep,  but  my 
heart  waketh."  But  I  sleep  not  as  carnal  men  do, 
because  my  heart,  the  renewed  part,  wakes :  and 
through  my  sleep  I  ken  His  tongue.  And  the  spirit 
cries  to  the  flesh,  Wrong,  wrong,  it  is  ill  your  com- 
mon,"^  to  hold  out  the  Son  of  God.  And  she  plays 
the  advocate  for  Christ  against  herself :  enlarges  and 
presses  in  breadth  and  length  the  indignity  of  the 
wrong  done  to  Him.  First.  From  the  testimony  of 
her  own  conscience,  in  knowing  His  tongue  and  dis- 
cerning His  knock.  Secojid.  From  reasons  that  He 
used  to  move  her  will  to  consent :  as 

I.  Christ's  just  claim  to  her;  "  Aly  sister,  My  love, 
My  dove,  My  nndefiicd.'' — Styles  that  we  deserve  not ; 
for  when  Christ  has  gotten  us  with  much  intreaty,  and 
hard  war,  ill  and  well  as  it  might  be.  He  has  gotten 
but  a  dirty  armful  of  us.  The  2.  Reason  is,  from  His 
sufferings:  '' Aly  head  is  full  of  dew  T  3.  She  comes 
to  her  own  backwardness,  and  carnal  shifts.  In 
speaking  to  herself  in  allusion  to  the  custom  of  going 
barefooted  in  those  hot  countries,  and  to  the  wash- 
ing of  their  feet  ere  they  went  to  bed ;  says  she,  I 
cannot  rise  now,  and  quit  my  ease.     And  with  confi- 

It  ill  becomes. 


202  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


dence,  she  propounds  questions  to  His  conscience. 
How  can  I  in  this  cold  night  put  on  my  clothes  ?  how 
can  I  defile  my  feet?  Be  you  judge,  husband,  if  this 
be  reasonable,  that  ye  should  not  come  in  day-light 
before  the  sun  go  down.  Shall  I  quit  my  pleasure, 
how  can  I  do  it?  Is  this  possible?  Shall  I  now 
defile  my  feet  again?  Is  this  reasonable?  Her 
4.  Reason  is,  from  his  manner  of  working  in  her 
heart ;  My  well  beloved  put  in  His  hand  by  the  key- 
hole, and  made  my  heart  lively,  and  warmed  it  by 
some  bestirring  motions  :  and  O  !  unhappy  I,  who 
would  not  rise  and  open  to  Him.  Her  5.  Reason  is, 
from  her  sorrow  in  that  her  bowels  were  turned  for 
her  Lord,  who  was  thus  unworthily  received  (verse  3). 

3.  Then  is  subjoined  (in  verses  4  and  5),  the  fruits  of 
her  laziness,  which  was  the  losing  of  her  well  beloved; 
in  which  are  these  six  particulars. 

I.  ''  I  rose  to  openr — This  is  a  new  purpose,  con- 
demning her  former  neglect.  2.  What  befel  her  in 
that  work ;  the  Lord  left  upon  her  heart  the  smell  of 
His  love,  sweet  as  myrrh,  which  made  her  hands  to 
drop  when  she  had  purposed  to  open.  3.  It  is  set 
down,  her  opening  out  of  time,  "  He  had  withdrawn 
Himself  4.  Her  missing  of  Him  when  He  was 
gone.  5.  Two  fruits  of  her  missing  of  Him,  the 
one  which  is  the  fifth  in  order,  her  godly  sorrow, 
in  that  she  fell  aswoon  for  Him.  The  other  which  is 
the  6.  Particular,  her  seeking,  praying,  and  longing* 
for  Him;  but  not  according  to  her  present  desire, 
"  she  found  Him  not."     Thus  ye  have  the  division. 

Now  I  come  to  the  doctrine. 

"  /  sleepr — It  is  not  long  since  it  was  another 
world,  '^  Let  my  beloved  come  into  His  garden,  and 
eat  His  pleasant  fruit ;"  but  now  it  is  a  changed  world. 
Once  it  was  as  in  chap.  ii.  6,  "  His  left  hand  is  under 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  203 


my  head,  and  His  right  hand  doth  embrace  me  :''  but 
now  there  are  harlot  lovers  in  the  church,  and  it  is  ill 
sleeping  in  a  chamber  where  Christ  is  locked  to  the 
door.*  Perhaps  the  devil  had  made  the  bed,  busked 
the  chamber,  and  drawn  the  curtains.  Hence  the 
holiest  living,  while  the  flesh  dwells  in  him,  a  neigh- 
bour to  the  Spirit,  he  will  fall  asleep.  (Matt.  xxv.  5), 
"While  the  bridegroom  tarried,  they  (even  the  wise 
virgins)  all  slumbered  and  slept."  (Rom.  xiii.  11),  "It 
is  high  time  to  awake  :  for  the  night  is  spent.''  They 
were  in  a  nap  when  the  apostle  would  have  them  to 
awake,  (i  Thes.  v.  5,  6)  "  Ye  are  the  children  of  the 
day,  therefore  let  us  watch  and  be  sober."  Then  we 
must  beware  lest  that,  in  the  believer's  day,  and  in  the 
Lord's  day-time,  we  take  a  noon  sleep. 

Qtiestum.  But  what  are  the  causes  that  those  whom 
God  has  once  awakened  fall  asleep  ? 

Answer,  i.  A  full  man  seeks  a  bed,  a  drunken 
man  asketh  for  a  soft  resting  bed.  In  prosperity 
and  health,  when  men  sit  right  against  the  hot  sun — 
when  David  is  at  home,  and  his  kingdom  established 
in  his  hand,  he  falls  asleep,  and  lust  asketh  the  way  to 
his  house  (2  Sam.  xi.)  When  it  is  full  moon  with  the 
soul,  and  it  has  been  filled  with  God's  presence,  take 
heed  then  that  you  lay  not  your  face  to  the  sun,  and 
fall  asleep.  When  Peter  got  a  fill  of  glory  at  the 
transfiguration  of  Christ,  then  he  falls  asleep;  and  in  a 
dream,  he  spoke  he  wist  not  what,  when  he  said, 
"'  Master,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here"  (Mark  xi.  5,  6). 
It  was  a  word  he  spoke  through  his  sleep.  If  ye, 
Peter  and  John,  will  stay  still  in  that  glorious  estate 
ye  have  soon  done  with  it.  But  how  shall  the  Chris- 
tian world  be  gathered  in  to  Christ  by  your  ministry  ? 

Locked  out. 


204 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Nay,  awake  ye  must,  come  down  from  the  mount,  and 
be  scourged,  imprisoned,  and  suffer  death  for  bearing 
witness  of  Christ  before  the  world.  The  devil  does 
here,  as  some  physicians  Avho  give  physic  when  it  is 
full  moon.  Satan  kens  well  Avhen  it  is  full  moon  w4th 
the  soul,  and  then  he  waits  on  with  a  soft  pillow  and 
a  made  bed.  Therefore,  after  your  fill  of  Christ,  and 
after  you  have  gotten  many  love  tokens  from  Him ; 
keep  your  soul  w^aking. 

2.  Men  cast  away  holy  fear,  and  then  they  must 
sleep.  They  forget  their  soul's  being  ill  locked  up, 
and  forget  that  loose-handed  devils  (if  we  may  so  say) 
are  going  up  and  down  the  house  :  and  that  they  have 
a  great  house  to  keep  that  is  well  filled.  Their  con- 
science and  their  affections  are  treasures  often  loosely 
laid  up  :  and  there  is  but  a  thin  wall  betwixt  us  and 
Satan.  And  we  forget  that  sin  has  made  us  heavy 
headed  and  lazy  sluggards,  inclining  to  sleep. 
*^  Blessed  is  he  that  feareth  always"  (Prov.  xxviii.  14). 
We  may  catch  much  harm  in  sleeping,  and  therefore 
holy  fear  should  keep  us  waking.  He  that  knows 
himself  to  be  on  the  head  of  a  top-mast,  and  wdth 
giddy  head  looking  down,  he  will  forget  sleeping. 

3.  We  turn  idle  and  leave  off  our  spiritual  exercise : 
and  so  fall  over  in  Satan's  perfumed  bed  (i  Thes.  v. 
8).  To  keep  men  waking,  the  apostle  sends  them  to 
the  use  of  faith,  love,  and  hope.  Before  men  fall 
asleep,  they  turn  lazy  and  cold  in  good  works.  Such 
as  watch  a  castle,  when  they  fear  sleep,  walk  up  and 
down,  speak  and  sing ;  for  if  they  sit  down,  they  wall 
but  soon  welcome  sleep.  Let  a  man  for  a  month  do 
nothing  but  sit  in  one  place  night  and  day,  the  sinews 
of  his  legs  wall  readily  freeze  and  dry  up.  Use  the 
body  and  have  the  body.  When  Ave  give  up  with 
prayer,  reading,  hearing,  conferring,  meditating,  and 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


205 


walking  in  love  and  good  works ;  no  marvel  though 
the  sinews  of  the  conscience  dry  up.  Let  a  watch  or 
a  clock  stand  a  year,  lay  aside  the  paces,''  then  all  the 
wheels  rust  and  gather  dirt  and  moths,  and  so  clog  it 
that  it  cannot  go.  Leave  off  to  do  good,  and  turn 
lazy ;  and  the  wheels  of  the  conscience,  and  the  affec- 
tions of  love,  joy,  desire,  sorrow,  hope,  fear,  let  them 
gather  rust ;  and  if  they  freeze,  the  soul  must  then  fall 
asleep,  and  turn  as  dead  for  a  journey  to  heaven  as  a 
sleeping  man  is  to  walk.  These  two  last  causes  of 
sleep  say  it  is  no  wonder  though  all  we  in  this  land  be 
fallen  asleep.  Our  little  fear  of  losing  our  well  Be- 
loved, and  our  deadness  in  good  works  and  spiritual 
exercises,  cannot  but  bring  us  to  this  sleep. 

'^  Bid  my  heart  wakeih^ — IMy  renewed  part  waked, 
and  knew  Christ's  tongue.  This  is  not  spoken  as  a 
volleyt  or  vogue ;  as  many  folk  in  a  shew,  scant  of 
friendly  neighbours  to  praise  them,  they  save  their 
neighbours  the  labour,  and  praise  themselves  :  but  the 
church  speaks  this  to  the  praise  of  the  grace  of  God. 
Hence,  we  see  the  worst  case  the  child  of  God  can  be 
in  he  can  discern,  even  through  his  sleep,  the  voice 
of  God  in  Christ;  and  in  his  dream  can  take  up  Christ 
as  Christ.  For  even  under  these  out-casts, {  and  when 
the  peace  betwixt  them  is  cried  down  for  a  time  (i  John 
iii.  9),  the  seed  of  God  abideth  in  them  (i  John  ii.  27). 
The  anointing  that  they  have  received  of  God  abideth 
in  them.  Neither  must  we  think  that  Christ  giveth 
His  friends  a  spur  visit  and  a  standing  word,  and  away 
again,  seeing  He  still  dwells  in  His  own ;  howbeit  He 
doth  not  aye  work  in  them. 

Under  greatest  unkindness  there  is  never  a  defec- 

*  The  weights.       t  A  mere  burst,  or  for  fashion's  sake. 
%  Quarrels. 


2o6  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


tion  in  the  soul,  for  the  Lord's  seed  of  righteousness 
remaineth  in  them.  Howbeit  it  casteth  not  aye  heat, 
yet  it  casteth  aye  hght,  whereby  the  man  seeth  sin, 
and  protests  and  takes  instruments'"  in  Christ's  name, 
of  the  wrong  done  to  Christ.  And  if  the  new  man 
cry.  Wrong,  ^\Tong,  think  on  that :  the  converted  sin 
not  without  an  eye-witness  that  speaks  against  the  ill 
(Rom.  vii.  17,  18). 

But  by  the  way  then  another  Question.  How  do 
the  renewed  in  Christ  sin  at  all  if  the  seed  of  God 
abide  in  them  ? 

Answer.  Because  Christ  can  lie  down  in  the  soul, 
and  not  work  at  all,  and  suffer  the  unrenewed  part,  I 
mean  the  old  man,  to  make  a  road+  in  the  soul :  Christ 
in  the  new  man  only  making  a  little  struggling,  as  the 
birth  hurt  in  the  mother's  womb  makes  a  stirring. 
This  should  be  known;  it  is  not  grace  in  the  habit  that 
hinders  sin  in  us,  but  God  working  and  blowing  upon 
that  grace.  For  our  watching  and  walking  in  God's 
way,  is  not  like  ordinary  fire  that  burns  of  itself;  but 
is  like  the  smith's  fire  that  must  be  blown  up  with  the 
bellows.  And  therefore,  in  the  time  that  God's  bel- 
lows blows  not  on  our  fire,  it  is  dark  and  dead.  Then 
Christ's  fire  with  little  heat  lies  beneath  the  devil's 
ashes.  God  says  to  Jeremiah  (chap.  i.  18),  ^VBehold 
I  have  made  thee  this  day  a  fenced  city,  and  an  iron 
pillar,  and  brazen  walls,  against  the  whole  land." 
Might  not  that  have  sufficed  Jeremiah,  except  he  were 
ill  to  please?  Nay,  but  the  fenced  city  might  be 
taken  !  Therefore  the  Lord  promised  that  that  should 
do  the  turn.  (Verse  19),  '*  They  shall  fight  against 
thee,  but  they  shall  not  prevail."  Why  so  ?  Because 
Jeremiah  was  an  iron  pillar,  (S:c.    Nay,  another  reason 

*  Protests  in  legal  form.  t  Make  invasion. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  207 


is  given ;  and  that  is,  ''  I  am  with  thee,  to  deHver  thee, 
saith  the  Lord."  So  then,  it  is  God  Himself  working 
upon  His  own  grace,  and  blowing  upon  His  own  fire, 
that  is  the  proper  and  only  cause  of  our  standing. 

But  to  the  point.  The  waking  heart  through  the 
sleep  knows  the  Lord's  tongue ;  and  this  should  com- 
fort and  bear  up  the  child  of  God  under  falls  and 
different  sins,  from  being  a  castaway ;  when  Satan 
comes  in  in  a  deep  sleep,  and  steals  away  the  soul 
and  is  never  trapped.  But  the  devil  cannot  steal  a 
sleep  on  the  child  of  God,  but  the  renewed  part  will 
awake  him,  and  take  him  with  it  red-hand.'^  Or.  at 
least,  it  is  like  the  tender  eye  that  waters  with  a  blast  of 
wind  or  a  mote.  Or  thus  \  when  Satan  casts  water  on 
the  faith  of  the  saints,  Christ's  fire  makes  a  noise  and 
cracking ;  or  when  sin  lies  upon  the  conscience  like 
uncouthf  meat,  raw  and  undigested,  on  a  weak  stomach, 
the  child  of  God  gets  no  rest  till  he  vomit  it  up  again. 
Now  this  is  a  matter  of  comfort,  and  it  saith  the  con- 
science is  tender,  sensible,  lively,  and  thin-skinned, 
and  will  easily  bleed.  And  as  it  betokens  a  tender, 
and  a  waking  heart,  so  it  says  that  that  conscience  has 
a  bottom.  But  for  the  rejDrobates,  the  devil  has  driven 
the  bottom  out  of  their  conscience,  so  that  sin  runs 
through  it  as  a  vessel  without  a  bottom,  that  holds 
nothing ;  for  sin,  after  it  is  committed,  is  done,  or  out 
of  mind  with  them.  The  Pharisees  killed  Christ,  and 
were  soon  w^ashen,  though  it  was  with  foul  water ;  and 
they  fall  to,  and  eat  the  passover,  and  there  is  no  more 
of  it.  It  is  past  with  them,  and  that  quickly,  and  there 
is  no  more  of  it  by  reason  of  a  running  out  conscience. 
Cain's  murder  did  not  stick  long  in  his  throat  when 
he  went  out  of  God's  presence  and  built  a  city. 

*  Ii"^  the  very  act.  t  Strange. 


2o8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


This  confession  of  the  kirk,  that  in  sleeping,  "the 
heart  waked,"  will  reprove  many  who  overcharge  their 
conscience  and  themselves  (as  the  apostle  speaks, 
2  Cor.  ii.  7),  until  they  be  swallowed  up  with  grief. 
They  only  speak  of  the  evil  that  is  true  of  themselves, 
but  no  good  at  all.  The  church  doth  not  so  (Cant.  i. 
S),  *'  I  am  my  beloved's,"  &c.  I  am  black,  yet  she 
denies  not,  but  Christ's  part  is  comely  as  the  tents  ot 
Kedar.  We  ought  to  confess  our  sleepiness ;  but  we 
should  not  deny  the  grace  that  is  in  God.  As  the 
wretch  sinneth  away  all  he  has  and  sayeth  he  has 
nothing.  Thus  some  imagine  it  to  be  both  the  root 
and  top  of  true  humility,  to  say  they  have  no  grace  at 
all ;  there  is  nothing  in  me  that  God  can  own  as  His 
own  work.  This  they  think  true  humility,  to  put  the 
price  of  a  dog  on  themselves.  As  they  think  they  are 
riding  God's  errands  when  they  have  put  the  saddle 
on  the  wrong  horse  !  But,  in  doing  this,  men  take 
Satan's  place  over  his  head,  for  he  is  an  accuser  of  the 
brethren,  and  they  play  the  advocate  for  him.  And 
this  is  in  confessing  to  bend  the  bow  beyond  the  com- 
pass of  it.  And  when  men  say  this,  that  they  have 
nothing  of  them  in  God,  they  forget  that  Satan  is  at 
their  elbow,  to  say,  Then  I  take  instruments*  on  your 
word,  ye  must  then  be  mine. 

There  is  also  a  third  sort,  who  abuse  a  waking  heart 
in  their  sleep.  They  who  think  they  may  take  a  little 
liberty  and  elbow  room  to  sin,  because,  say  they, 
Howbeit  I  sleep,  yet  the  renewed  part  is  waking.  I 
know  Christ's  tongue  :  it  is  not  any  gift  to  suffer  for 
Christ.  I  will  crouch  and  let  the  cross  of  Christ  slip 
by  me ;  yet  I  wish  all  well.  I  love  the  good  cause  ! 
Yet  they  can  feed  their  lusts,  and  make  them  fat  and 

*  Protest. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  209 


wanton.  I  hope,  say  these  men,  I  have  tme  grace, 
I  am  woe  at  any  shps  I  make !  Now,  well  said  Pilate ! 
Scourge  Christ  and  then  condemn  Him ;  and  then 
wash  your  hands  and  proclaim  yourself  a  just,  clean 
man.  If  any  man  be  wrong,  then  these  with  the  first 
are  playing  about  the  mouth  of  hell. 

^'  Open  to  ine^ — There  is  then  a  locked  door  upon 
Christ ;  His  face  is  hidden.  So  soon  as  He  goes  out 
there  is  one  that  pays  rent  to  an  uncouth  Lord,  who 
wins  the  house  of  our  hearts,  and  takes  it  up.  Hence 
it  is,  that  Christ  must  beg  lodging  for  God's  sake,  ere 
He  get  possession  of  His  own  again.  Then  by  our 
security,  taking  the  play,  and  giving  a  night's  lodging 
or  two,  to  an  old  lust,  dear  Jesus  must  stand  and  call 
for  Himself,  as  if  He  were  the  Man  to  be  meaned, 
crying,  "-  Open,  My  sister,'^  <S:c.  Yet  this  would  seem 
a  hard  command,  if  He  would  say  to  us.  Open. 

A7is7ver.  ^^'hen  God  commands  anything  to  us,  He 
adviseth  not  with  our  lazy  flesh.  Neither  says  He, 
What  think  ye  of  the  command  ?  He  says  to  Moses, 
Go  to  Pharaoh,  and  say,  Let  My  people  go.  But  He 
asked  not  counsel  at  Moses  in  his  cold  blood,  nor 
stood  at  his  natural  fear  to  go  to  Eg)'pt  where  he 
had  slain  a  man.  He  sends  Jeremiah  to  kings,  princes, 
prophets  and  people,  and  makes  no  great  reckon- 
ing of  the  prophet's  fleshly  shitt.  "  Ah,  God !  I 
cannot  speak ;"  says  he,  "  I  am  a  child  "  (Jer.  i.  6). 
Yea,  if  our  Lord  advised  with  wicked  men  (to  say  no 
more  of  the  saints)  in  asking  their  mind  anent  His 
commandments,  they  would  shape  a  law  like  a  \\4de 
coat,  to  take  in  both  God  and  their  lusts.  But  God's 
commandments  must  stand,  of  His  own  mould.  Hence 
comes  this 

Question.  How  are  evangelical  commands  directed 
to  us  ?  (Kze.k.  xviii.  31),  ''  2^1ake  you  a  new  heart,  and 
o 


2IO  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


a  new  spirit."  (Col.  iii.  lo),  "  Put  on  the  new  man." 
(Rom.  xii.  2),  "  Be  transformed  by  the  renewing  of 
your  mind,"  &c.  This  seems  to  lay  the  weight  on  our 
free  will,  which  it  cannot  bear.  What  shall  ye  then 
do  with  these  things  ? 

Answer.  Because  lazy  nature  flings  at  the  load,  it 
should  not  be  refused  at  the  first  hearing.  We  are  to 
take  us  to  our  feet,  no  less  than  the  power  were  in  our 
own  hand.  Christ  helps  fair  ventures.  Better  die 
working  and  doing  as  we  can,  than  cry  in  the  fire. 
Lord,  lift  me  out.  It  is  our  fault ;  the  want  of  the 
command  breaks  our  resolution  to  obey  in  two  pieces, 
and  there  we  lie. 

God  sends  not  His  commandments  to  us  because 
we  have  strength  to  do  them.  But  God  seeks  that 
His  charge  be  met  with  humility.  Wherefore,  the 
gospel  is  a  mass  of  humble  commandments ;  and  we 
sigh  because  we  cannot  win  up  the  brae.  It  is  accept- 
able; providing  we  creep  on  hands  and  feet  as  we  can, 
it  is  sweet  obedience.  Because  faith  has  always  in 
the  second  covenant  the  first  stroke,  and  the  fore-start, 
before  doing,  as  being  the  condition  of  the  covenant, 
therefore  our  Lord  commands,  and  seeks  in  the  com- 
mand, that  we  believe.  He  will  put  His  Spirit  in  us, 
and  cause  us  to  do  what  He  craves  of  us.  A  father 
charges  his  child  to  bear  a  burden  far  above  his 
strength,  and  threatens  him  if  he  obey  not.  He  obeys 
if  he  stoop,  and  mint  f  and  pant ;  and  withal  weeps, 
yet  he  cannot  get  it  done,  and  believes  that  out  of  love 
his  father  will  help  him.  So  in  opening  of  our  hearts  to 
Jesus ;  if  we  but  weep,  and  look  up  with  watery  eyes 
to  Christ,  and  then  cry  and  mint,  to  open  it  as  we  can, 
using  the  weak  fingers  that  we  have.     For  though  our 

f  Attempt  \  aim  at. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  21 1 


money  wants  many  grain  weights,  yet  Christ  fills  the 
scale  of  the  balance,  and  weighs  down  where  we  want. 
So  Christ's  commands  to  us  are  commanding  promises 
and  promissory  commands.  He  charges  us  to  do 
(Ezek.  xviii.  31),  and  He  promises  to  work  in  us  what 
He  commands  us  to  do  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27). 

The  use  of  this  point  is  to  teach  us  to  meet  God's 
commands  with  humility ;  as  going  out  of  ourselves 
with  faith  in  the  commander.  For  want  of  this,  our 
lazy  nature  lies  down  under  the  load,  and  we  stick  in 
the  mire. 

This  speaks  against  the  enemies  of  grace,  who 
slander  us,  as  if  we  denied  Christ  to  be  a  law-giver, 
who  speaks  good  words  to,  and  speaks  good  words  of 
us ;  and  said  that  the  gospel  does  not  command  at  all, 
but  only  shews  and  teaches  what  God  by  His  Spirit 
works  in  the  elect.  Nay,  we  teach  that  it  both  com- 
mands and  craves  obedience  (as  they  teach) ;  and  He 
irresistibly  works  by  His  Spirit  what  He  craveth ;  and 
His  grace  pays  our  debts.  He  pays  our  debts  with 
His  own  money;  which  they  deny,  to  God's  dishonour, 
and  the  reproaching  of  His  grace,  that  free  will  may 
get  the  throne.     But  better  we  v/ant,  than  grace  want. 

"  J/y  sister^  My  love.^^ — Christ  speaketh  like  Himself, 
He  calls  His  church  four  times  over  His  own,  "  My 
sister.  My  dove.  My  friend,  and  My  undefiled."  Even 
as  if  He  were  proud  of  His  heritage.  Mine  is  a  sweet 
and  a  friendly  word ;  every  one  loves  well  their  o^vn. 
So  doth  Christ  speak  of  His  own,  being  well  content 
with  His  conquest,  as  having  no  stronger  reason  to 
work  upon  us,  to  win  in  upon  our  souls,  than  to  allege 
properly  His  claim  to  us.  And  His  property  and 
interest  is  a  great  one.  And  it  is  but  reason  every 
one  get  his  own  ;  and  far  more  reason  that  Christ  get 
His  own.    We  see  Christ  had  begun,  or  renewed, 


212  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


conversation  on  low  and  lovely  terms ;  such  as  a  man 
has  when  he  finds  a  treasure  (Matt.  xiii.  44).  Then 
Christ  filleth  to  comers,  at  the  first  meeting,  a  cheerful 
heart.  And  (Matt.  xi.  28)  ease  and  rest  to  their  souls  is 
promised.  (Rev.  iii.  20),  "If  any  man  hear  My  voice, 
and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  sup 
with  him,  and  he  with  Me."  There  a  feast  of  joy 
(Prov.  ix.  5),  Christ  saith  to  a  parcel  of  fools:  "Come, 
eat  of  My  bread,  and  drink  of  My  wine."  There  is  a 
home-coming  soul  set  to  a  full  covered  table. 

I  deny  not  but  there  be  down-casting  terrors,  and 
ploughing  of  the  conscience  before ;  but  that  is  before 
Christ  come.  Sorrow  ushers  the  gate  to  Jesus.  The 
reasons  are  these,  i.  The  conscience  is  as  a  dainty 
small  spun  thread  at  conversion,  either  begun  or  re- 
newed. There  is  a  double  knot  upon  it,  law  terrors, 
and  the  threatenings  are  a  sharp  knife  to  cut  the 
thread ;  but  not  to  loose  the  knot :  and  loosed  it  must 
be.  For  welF  is  the  soul  that  Christ  wooeth  with  its 
own  consent.  Therefore  love's  sweet  graces  and  felt 
promises  have  a  rank  smell  of  the  soul's  delight  and 
comfort  of  Christ's  presence :  and  they  are  the  small 
soft  singers  of  Christ,  whereby,  with  the  strong,  soft, 
and  subtile  art  of  love,  Christ  looseth  the  knot.  The 
soul  is,  until  then,  a  locked  door.  The  law  is  the 
wrong  key,  it  would  break  the  lock  ere  it  opened  the 
heart.  When  Christ  comes,  the  law  and  our  affec- 
tions are  like  ill  ravelled  yarn ;  force  would  ravel  them 
worse. 

But  in  Christ's  coming  first  to  winf  in  upon  our 
hearts,  we  are  like  old  vessels  made  new ;  it  is  best  to 
try  old  vessels  with  water  ere  ye  put  wine  in  them. 
Love  is  like  water  in  the  soul ;  it  is  not  so  sore  looking 

*  Happy  is.  t  Get  in. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


213 


in  the  soul  as  wine.  It  is  best  at  our  first  starting  of 
the  race  to  see  the  gold.*  Christ  puts  not  new  wine 
into  old  vessels.  While  His  disciples  are  young  and 
weak,  He  sooths  them  with  the  company  of  the  Bride- 
groom ;  but  afterwards,  when  they  are  older,  and  have 
strength,  He  will  take  the  Bridegroom  from  them,  and 
then  they  shall  weep  in  those  days  (Matt.  ix.  15).  To 
draw  home  Ephraim's  heart  to  God,  He  plats  the  rope 
double,  that  it  break  not.  See  our  Lord's  word  to 
him  (Jer.  xxxi.  20),  '^  Is  Ephraim  My  dear  son?  Is 
he  a  pleasant  child?"  &c.  And  a  new  garment, 
feasting,  and  kissing,  is  for  the  forlorn  child. 

The  first  love-token  is  a  copy  and  sampler  to  all 
the  rest :  therefore  it  must  be  given  with  a  hearty  im- 
pression from  Christ's  own  mouth  in  His  word.  The 
bairns'  copy  should  be  WTitten  with  fair  and  large 
letters,  that  it  may  make  them  learn  with  the  better 
will.  Our  Lord  knows  we  will  have  to  do  with  experi- 
ence; and  therefore,  ordinarily  at  our  first  meeting 
we  get  as  much  feeling  as  we  shall  never  cast  off  all 
our  life-time  again.  I  will  not  afiirm  this  to  be  univer- 
sal; for  Christ  steals  in  upon  some  souls  from  the 
womb,  so  that  they  can  say,  Here  He  is ;  but  how  He 
came  in  I  cannot  tell. 

Use,  Some  may  say  I  have  had  much  sweet  delight 
in  Christ  langsyne  ;t  but  Oh  1  I  may  say,  God  be  with 
good  old  by-past  years. 

Answer  i.  New  love  has  aye  the  sweetest  breath. 
^Vhile  it  is  new,  it  is  in  this  point,  like  the  bairn's  new 
coat,  it  delights  because  it  is  new.  So  is  love  because 
new,  and  afterward  it  delights  because  it  is  love  only. 
But  this  is  not  spoken  to  bolster  up  any  who  are  fallen 
from  their  first  love,  like  Ephesus.     We  like  all  well 

*  The  prize  offered.         t  In  days  long  past  and  gone. 


214  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


.  to  be  soothed  in  our  affections ;  but  be  not  casten 
down,  because  old  feasts  are  turned  to  hunger;  for 
hunger  is  as  good  for  you  as  feeding  and  feasting.  A 
man  on  the  top  of  a  mountain  will  see  the  city  though 
he  be  many  miles  from  it :  and  when  he  is  within  half 
a  mile  of  the  city,  may  not  see  it  at  all,  because  he  is 
on  valley  ground.  Longsyne,  when  ye  were  Christ^s 
creeping  bairns.  He  set  you  on  the  top  of  a  mountain, 
and  made  you  to  see  heaven  :  now  ye  are  within  half 
a  mile  of  the  city,  and  in  His  wisdom  He  makes  you 
walk  on  valley  ground,  though  ye  are  nearer  it  now 
than  before.  For  of  old.  He  was  only  letting  you  see 
the  ground,  that  ye  might  run  fast. 

Since  Christ  in  conversion  worketh  thus  by  love ;  it 
is  a  vain  thing  for  the  enemies  of  grace  to  say,  God's 
determinate  grace  doth  strangle  free  will,  because  it 
worketh  irresistibly.  Nay,  seeing  grace  works  by  love, 
it  is  clear  that  grace  doth  not  strangle,  but  clap  and 
kiss  free  will  in  its  most  kindly  and  natural  inclina- 
tion. 

Let  never  a  man  please  himself  in  obedience  to 
Christ,  until  he  finds  His  love  load  him.  I  will  tell 
you,  for  every  ounce  weight  of  spiritual  love  there  is 
as  many  of  spiritual  obedience.  Get  once  your  soul 
fraughted  with  the  love  of  Christ,  as  a  bird  in  the  net, 
and  all  is  well.  Let  fear  and  terror,  or  other  winds 
blomng  our  sails  stand  by,  for  they  shall  never  take 
the  ship  home.  It  is  but  a  violent  motion,  and  not 
perpetual.  The  will  going  about  as  the  wheels  of  a 
watch  wearieth,  because  of  the  violent  motion.  The 
sun  wearieth  not  to  shine,  nor  the  fire  to  cause  heat, 
nor  a  fountain  to  spring,  because  the  motion  here  is 
natural.  Law,  fear,  lust,  gain,  credit,  and  the  like, 
bloweth  us  forward  to  obedience,  causeth  but  a  violent 
motion  against  the  hair  j  the  wheels  will  wear  and  tire. 


COMMUNION  sermon:^,  215 


But  when  our  actions  come  from  the  love  of  God,  as 
from  a  co-natural  fountain,  O  !  the  motion  is  like 
the  action  of  nature  that  is  not  forced.  For  the  love 
of  God  is  not  short  of  breath,  and  it  will  not  weary. 

"  My  undejiled  one'' — Passing  the  other  titles,  this 
shews  that  the  kirk  has  a  feast  in  Christ's  heart,  and 
partaking  of  His  nature.  My  fellow  friends,  touching 
the  communion  between  Him  and  her,  "  My  dove,'' 
it  respecteth  the  chastity  of  the  kirk  and  matrimonial 
love  to  her  only  husband,  Christ.  I  but  touch  this, 
"My  undefiled  one"  is  exponed  (chap,  vii.j,  "Thou 
art  fair,  My  love,  there  is  no  spot  in  thee."  Whence 
is  this,  that  a  sinful  kirk  is  called  undefiled  ? 

Answer.  Our  Lord  reckons  us  from  our  best  part ; 
the  new  man  is  an  undefiled  thing.  There  is  a  chain 
of  gold  melted,  though  there  is  some  dregs  in  it ;  yet 
we  call  it  a  chain  of  massy  gold.  Christ  calls  His 
mixt  wine,  wine.  When  Christ  once  loves  His,  He 
never  reckons  the  dross  :  it  is  holden  out  of  Christ's 
count  book.  We  are  undefiled  in  Christ,  "  in  whom 
we  have  redemption,  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins"  (Eph. 
i.  7).  The  saints  must  be  undefiled  when  their  sins 
are  put  up  in  Christ's  account.  (Isaiah  liii.  6),  "  The 
Lord  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  (2  Cor.  v. 
21),  "God  made  Him  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin; 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Him."  O  then  (say  the  Papists),  we  are  as  righteous 
as  Christ,  if  His  righteousness  be  ours  ;  which  is  blas- 
phemous. And  because  it  is  of  a  truth,  that  Christ's 
righteousness  is  imputed  to  us  :  says  the  Antinomian, 
we  are  Christ's,  and  as  righteous  as  He,  and  so  cannot 
sin,  and  we  are  not  under  the  law.  Now  to  the  first : 
let  the  Papists,  who  mock  at  Christ's  imputed  right- 
eousness, know,  if  we  look  to  the  quantity  of  Christ's 
righteousness,  it  follows  not  that  we  are  as  righteous. 


2t6  communion  sermons. 


For  He  is  inherently  righteous,  and  His  personal 
sufferings  has  righteousness  for  all  the  elect,  and  for 
many  worlds.  But  if  we  look  to  the  manner  of  having 
His  righteousness;  then,  as  He  is  righteous,  so  are  we. 
Even  as  a  child  of  one  day  old  is  no  less  a  man  than 
a  man  of  thirty  years  :  but  the  child  is  not  a  man  of 
such  quantity  and  stature  as  a  man  of  thirty  years. 
Christ  has  righteousness  for  Himself,  and  us  all;  but 
we  have  our  righteousness  in  Him,  and  every  one  for 
himself,  because  sin  is  but  one  debt,  first  upon  us, 
and  then  on  Him.  Our  bond  over  Christ's  head,  and 
over  our  own,  is  but  one  process ;  ''  He  was  made  a 
curse  for  us. '^  In  challenging  one  ditty  ^"^  my  sin  was 
laid  on  Christ :  sad  and  black  ditty ;  one  sum  on  us 
both,  one  death,  and  which  is  best  of  all,  one  dis- 
charge. God  be  thanked,  Christ  got  free  out  of 
prison,  and  took  all  dyvours  with  Him.  Hence  let 
us  make  our  own  use  of  it,  ere  the  libertine  get  his 
answer.  Satan  intends  summons  against  weak  con- 
sciences. Thou  art  a  filthy  sinner,  says  he,  and  that 
is  the  ditty  God  has  at  thee,  and  the  plea  the  Lamb 
has  against  thee.  But  thou  mayest  get  an  answer  to 
Satan.  It  is  untrue  that  there  is  a  plea  betwixt  me 
and  the  law ;  the  plea  is  betwixt  Christ  and  the  law ; 
it  is  Christ's  plea  and  not  mine.  Therefore  send  the 
devil  to  Christ  for  that  plea;  Christ  is  old  enough,  and 
can  answer  for  Himself. 

The  devil  can  trouble  us  for  Christ's  plea ;  yea,  he 
can  wade  deep  here.  **  Thou  art  not  an  elect  person, 
nor  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life." 

Answer,  These  doubts  of  our  election,  are  dreams 
raised  in  our  heads  by  the  devil;  for  not  any  but 
jugglers  and  wizards  have  read  your  fortune,  and  told 

*  Indictment. 


COMMUNION  SERMOXS.  217 


you  such  a  dream.  I  ask,  Hath  Christ  given  you  your 
last  answer,  and  said,  I  care  not  for  you  ?  Nay,  He 
has  not,  nor  will  not  say  this.  But  know  this,  neither 
the  devil  nor  thy  conscience  speak  always  law,  if  thou 
can  but  unfeignedly  creep  under  Christ's  lap.  There 
is  no  water  yet  casten  on  Christ's  kindness.  If  His 
love  reek  and  smoke,  there  is  fire. 

The  devil  can  here  turn  his  hand,  and  borrow  the 
conscience  of  the  Antinomian,  and  the  fleshly  libertine, 
who  says,  "  I  am  Christ's  undefiled  one.  He  has  made 
payment  before  hand  for  all  my  sins,  past,  present,  and 
to  come." 

Answer,  Ay,  He  is  so  righteous  to  thee,  as  He  is 
made  sanctification  to  thee  also  (i  Cor.  i.  30).  If 
thou  thinkest  Christ  died  for  thee,  and  still  sinnest 
upon  luck's  head  f  because  Christ  has  blood  enough 
to  wash  thee  :  as  a  waster  of  Christ's  blood,  thou 
turnest  His  grace  into  wantonness.  Christ  redeemed 
none  upon  such  conditions ;  your  faith  should  never 
lay  claim  to  Christ.  None  are  saved,  except  they  live 
to  Him  who  has  died  for  them.  As  just  claims  has 
any  man  to  Christ  as  they  have,  if  they  lead  not  a  holy 
life.  A  man  in  strong  prison  with  iron  fetters  on  his 
legs,  cries,  I  am  a  free  man.  May  not  the  devil  laugh 
under  thumb,  and  say,  My  freemen  %  free  to  bear  my 
bands. 

'^  For  My  head  is  full  of  de7iK'' — This  is  a  strong 
plea.  My  spouse.  I  have  endured  a  cold  stormy  night 
for  thee  :  I  am  all  dreeping  with  rain.  My  dear  wife, 
pity  thy  Christ's  frozen  head,  and  give  Me  a  night's 
lodging. 

It  is  a  strong  argument  in  Christ,  to  win  ground  on 
our  souls,  to  hear  Him  tell  what  He  has  suffered  for 


■  The  chance  of  wmning. 


2i8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


US.  Let  in  thy  slain  Husband  in  thy  heart,  and  give 
Him  a  night's  lodging  (see  i  Peter  i.  i8),  because 
Christ  bought  you  dear,  not  with  silver  and  gold. 
(i  Peter  ii.  24),  "Christ  bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body 
on  the  tree."  What  then  sought  He  in  that?  " Even 
that  we  being  dead  to  sin  should  live  unto  righteous- 
ness." This  way  Christ's  death  should  work  the  death 
of  sin  in  us.  In  obedience,*  which  describes  the 
name,  what  is  it,  but  that  which  comes  from  a  heart 
softened  and  broken  with  love  to  Him  who  had  a 
sore  head.  He  who  crieth  by  His  ministers,  is  He 
whose  head  and  breasts  are  pained  with  knocking  to 
get  open  doors.  And  even  now,  howbeit  glorified, 
when  our  head  is  pained  with  crying.  He  means  His 
head.  He  bought  the  house,  and  should  not  be 
holden  out.  When  a  bird  builds  its  nest  in  the  hall 
of  a  king's  palace  the  nest  is  in  a  wrong  place.  The 
devil  has  a  nest  of  lust,  pride,  covetousness,  revenge, 
idolatry,  atheism,  and  falsehood  in  the  soul,  which  is 
a  house  redeemed  with  Chrisfs  wet  head,  and  precious 
blood.  Thou  hast  a  right  to  cast  down  the  nest,  it  is 
in  a  wrong  place.  Christ  was  shut  out  in  the  cold 
winter  night,  and  got  the  stormy  side  of  the  brae,  a 
storm  on  head  and  face,  like  to  take  the  skin  off  it,  to 
buy  the  house;  then  let  Him  in.  So  long  as  men 
labour  not,  the  devil  and  they  keep  a  merry  castle 
against  Christ. 

^'  My  head,  My  locksy^  &c. — It  sets  Christ  well  to 
tell  His  sufferings ;  "  They  pierced  My  hands  and  My 
feet"  (Psalm  xxii.  16).  He  would  say,  It  is  little  to 
you  to  hold  Me  at  the  door,  but  My  holy  manhood 
paid  dear  for  it.     (And  He  had  not  much  reason  for 


*  In  all  obedience  that  is  worth  the  name. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


219 


Him  to  take  cold.)*^  But  it  is  as  if  our  Lord  would 
say,  What  Christ  gave  to  God  for  the  ransom  of  sin- 
ners was  His  own  head,  His  own  body,  His  own  soul. 
So  there  are  two  things  required  in  a  Redeemer,  i. 
The  act  of  paying  a  sum,  and  telling  it  over  the  board 
to  the  creditor.  2.  The  sum  must  be  His  own,  for  if 
He  pays  a  ransom  with  another  man's  gold,  the  man 
that  aughtf  the  gold  is  the  ransomer  rather  than  he  : 
the  payer  in  that  case  seems  to  be  but  a  factor  to 
another.  But  Christ  was  no  factor;  He  paid  the 
redemption  with  His  own  proper  gold.  So  the  man- 
hood being  made  one,  in  a  personal  union  with  the 
God-head,  yet  it  was  His  own  flesh  and  blood,  and 
His  own  soul  that  He  offered  to  God.  For  howbeit 
it  was  borrowed  from  us,  yet,  in  substance  personal, 
it  was  His  own  :  and  both  His  will  and  God's  was 
one  agent  in  the  offering  of  it,  which  was  a  ground  of 
infinite  mercy,  and  the  holy  will  of  the  manhood 
earnestly  desired  it.  Here  He  took  on  Him  the  seed 
of  Abraham.  And  (which  is  a  mystery)  the  manhood 
not  being  a  person,  but  a  nature,  the  drawing  of  it  to 
a  personality  with  the  God-head,  made  it  Himself  and 
His  o^vn. 

^Vhence  we  learn,  love  both  creeping  near  to  us  in 
Christ,  and  so  near  that  He  became  us.  This  is  the 
love  of  Christ,  that  no  man  could  go  a  step  beyond 
Him,  in  coming  down  unto  us.  And  therefore  see 
how  homely  is  Jesus,  in  coming  unto  us,  that  our 
faith  here  might  be  as  homely  and  kind  as  His  love 
was  to  us.  We  may  lean  fully,  and  lay  all  our  weight 
upon  this  ransom.  Seeing  it  is  the  ransom  of  God, 
and  is  made  God's -payment  as  well  as  man's.     For 

*  Men  gave  Him  little  inducement  to  expose  Himself  in  the 
cold  night.  t  Is  owner  of. 


220  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


let  a  subject  find  a  silver  mine;  suppose  it  were  the 
king's  gift,  and  the  metal  were  made  properly  his  own ; 
yet  the  metal  will  never  pass,  or  be  current  money, 
without  the  king's  stamp  put  upon  it  by  authority.  So 
the  manhood  slain  was  metal  of  our  mine ;  the  union 
with  the  God-head  made  it  current  money.  And 
having  a  stamp  from  the  God-head,  it  must  be  of 
infinite  worth.  So  our  faith  may  trust  itself,  and  set 
down  both  its  feet  heartsomely  and  securely  here,  for 
it  is  good,  sure,  steadfast,  and  sicker  ground. 

"  I  have  put  off  my  coat.'' — This  is  the  spouse's 
answer  to  Christ.  Like  one  gone  to  bed,  and  having 
washen  their  feet  (as  was  the  custom  in  these  hot 
countries)  because  of  sweat  after  travel.  ''  Trouble 
me  not,  for  my  doors  are  now  shut,  and  my  children 
are  in  bed  with  me,  I  cannot  rise  now  and  give  you.'' 
This  shews  that  while  we  are  asleep,  and  bedded  with 
our  pleasures,  Christ  has  no  place.  For  here,  for  all 
Christ's  sweet  words  to  her,  calling  her,  ''  My  sister. 
My  love,  ^[y  dove,"  telling  His  dear  head  was  wet, 
cold,  and  frozen;  yet  all  that  cannot  move  her,  to 
open  and  let  Him  in.  While  the  temptation  was  up, 
and  on  horseback,  and  takes  us  on  that  score,  and 
finds  us  on  a  ground  of  sinning,  with  hot  blood,  we 
can  hardly  stand  on  our  feet  and  resist,  and  hold  our 
temptation.  The  prophets  rose  early  in  the  morning, 
and  sat  late  up,  and  spake  to  Israel  to  return  from  the 
evil  of  their  ways ;  yet  Israel  hearkened  not  (Jer.  xxvi. 
5).  For  idolatry  had  taken  them  on  the  right  score, 
and  that  jumped*  with  their  ease.  David  was  not 
himself,  in  commanding  to  number  the  people :  for 
Joab  (otherwise  a  bad  man)  had  better  light  than 
David,  a  man  after  God's  own  heart;  for  Joab  was 


Agreed  with ;  coincided  with. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  221 


against  the  numbering  of  the  people.  But  the  devil 
stood  up,  and  took  David  at  the  right  side,  when  his 
pride  was  swollen  over  the  bank  (t  Chron.  xxi.  i). 
Job's  friends  find  him  in  a  fit  of  distemper,  through 
the  vehemency  of  his  pain,  causing  him  to  slant  a 
little  off  the  line.  The  devil  winnowing  Peter,  came 
upon  his  right  side,  put  him  upon  the  denying  of  his 
Lord  when  he  was  in  his  cold  blood  in  the  fear  of  his 
life.     Now  there  be  four  reasons  of  this. 

The  first  is  common ;  the  withdrawing  of  God's 
grace :  for  if  the  dam  grow  dry  and  ebb,  the  miln 
stands.  (Psalm  xxx.  7),  "Thou  didst  hide  thy  face 
(now  the  horse  is  saddled),  and  I  was  troubled."  So 
then,  unbelief  makes  a  road.*^  When  fear  will  hold 
the  bridle,  up  goes  the  rider's  heels,  and  he  falls  on 
his  own  weight.  And  so  it  cannot  but  be,  for  obedi- 
ence is  not  a  web  of  our  spinning,  or  making.  The 
temptation  in  this  case  is  of  many  stone  weight  heavier 
than  our  shoulder  can  bear. 

Then  also,  lust,  laziness,  and  security,  are  the  great 
water :  the  saints  in  their  own  strength  are  the  short- 
legged  horse,  and  dow^n  they  go!  God  gives  the  devil 
liberty  to  braik  and  bostf  many  in  our  kirk.  Be 
humble  then,  and  fear.  He  knew  us  full  well.  Pray, 
''  Lord,  lead  us  not  into  temptation." 

There  be  two  herbs  that  grow  quickly  in  our  souls 
in  summer  weather ;  security  and  pride.  Humility  is 
a  strong  flower,  that  grows  best  in  winter  weather,  and 
under  storms  and  afflictions.  When  security  and 
pride,  and  other  like  weeds,  are  rank  and  up,  the 

*  Invasion,  as  in  i  Sam.  xxvii.  10. 

t  Ga\vin  Douglas,  many  of  whose  words  occur  in  Rutherford, 
uses  "braik  and  host"  for  ''threat  and  frighten."  In  the  old 
copies,  the  sentence  is,  "to  ready  and  to  breakfast,"  which  has 
au  meanin". 


222  COMMUNION'  SERMONS. 


temptation  has  us  in  the  night.  Then  if  ye  would  be 
kept  from  the  black  hour  of  temptations,  swell  not  on 
pride,  turn  not  lazy  in  the  use  of  good  means.  If  ye 
do,  look  for  a  temptation,  as  God's  lance,  to  make  a 
hole  to  let  out  the  wind. 

When  light  is  turned  blunt,  and  wants  an  edge; 
then  the  temptation  of  a  warm  bed  will  prevail,  to 
hold  Christ  at  the  wrong  side  of  the  door.  For  here 
I  appeal  to  your  experience,  to  discern  two  nicks*  you 
will  be  in.  On  the  one  hand  the  temptation  goes  home 
without  its  errand;  on  the  other,  ye  are  taken  at 
a  preaching  or  a  communion,  with  the  glance  of  a 
renewed  face,  with  a  blink  of  Christ  at  the  death  of  a 
friend,  or  under  a  sharp  rod. 

It  were  a  good  use  of  this  doctrine,  to  observe  the 
right  frame  of  your  souls,  to  sharpen  a  blunted  light. 
To  beware  of  pride  and  security.  Often  learn  to  know 
the  case  of  your  hearts.  Seek  out  the  way  to  the 
bottom  of  it,  and  plumb  it  often,  and  see  how  deep  it 
is.  When  the  heart  is  on  the  devil's  rack,  then  take 
yourselves  off  quickly.  Guide  well,  and  choose  your 
steps.  Fear  and  quake,  and  cry  unto  your  Rock.  To 
Him  be  everlasting  praise.     Amen. 

*  Points  of  time. 


SERMON        X  .* 

This  title  was,  no  doubt,  given  by  the  friend  who  took  down 
the  notes ;  for  Rutherford  was  not  in  the  way  of  putting  titles  to 
his  sermons.  The  expression,  **  C/insfs  Napkin^^^  occurs  in  this 
sermon,  and  also  in  the  sermon  on  John  xx.  13,  which  might  as 
suitably  be  so  called.  The  Edinburgh  edition  of  1734,  says, 
"  By  that  f(nver  of  the  Chinxh^  fa?nous,  fa??wus  Mr.  Samuel 
Rutherford^ 

And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes^  ^c. — Rev. 
xxi.  4,  5,  6,  7. 

THIS  text  contains  three  things.  First,  The  state 
of  the  glorified,  verse  4.  Secondly,  A  part  of 
Christ's  office,  verse  5.  Thirdly,  A  description  of  His 
nature.  Fourthly,  The  promises  as  to  i.  Drink  to 
satisfy  the  thirst;  2.  An  inheritance  to  the  overcomers, 
or  overcoming  soldiers;  3.  A  threatening  of  eternal 
wrath  to  offenders  against  the  first  and  second  tables 
of  the  law. 

''A7id  God  shall  unpe  aii^ay  all  tear s!^ — When  friends 
meet,  they  give  the  stranger  his  welcome-home.  Here 
is  the  pilgrim's  welcome  that  our  friend,  Christ,  gives 
us.     It  was  spoken  from  heaven,  and  therefore  it  is 

*  A  sermon  preached  at  the  Comipunion  in  Kirkcudbright, 
May  1 2th,  1633. 


224 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


true  doctrine.  Then  we  see  that  the  sufferings  and 
tears  of  the  saints  shall  be  wiped  away  and  removed, 
but  not  fully,  until"'  the  world  to  come ;  for  then  is 
Christ's  welcome-home  to  poor  sinners.  They  come 
all  to  Him  with  wet  faces,  and  bleared f  with  tears  for 
sin  and  the  manifold  troubles  of  this  life  ;  and  Christ 
meets  them  in  the  door,  with  a  fair  soft  napkin  in  His 
hand,  and  puts  up  His  hand  to  their  faces,  and  says, 
*'  Hold  your  tongue,  My  dear  bairns ;  ye  shall  never 
weep  again."  And  indeed,  in  my  judgment,  it  is  a 
speech  borrowed  from  a  mother  that  has  a  bairn  with 
a  broken  face,  all  bloody  and  all  bleared  with  tears, 
and  it  comes  to  her  (and  woe's  her  hearty  to  see  him 
so),  and  she  sits  down  and  wipes  the  tears  from  his 
eyes,  and  lays  her  hand  softly  on  the  wound,  and  his 
head  in  her  breast,  and  dights  §  away  the  blood,  and 
lays  her  two  arms  about  him,  and  there  is  no  end  of 
fair  words.  So  when  Christ  and  we  shall  meet  in 
heaven.  He  will  hush  us,  and  wipe  away  all  tears,  and 
lay  our  head  in  His  bosom.  See  how  He  alludes 
to  this  place  (Isaiah  liv.  ii),  *' O  thou  afflicted, 
tossed  with  tempest,  and  not  comforted,  behold,  I  will 
lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires,"  «&:c.  It  is  there, 
to  speak  so,  our  Lord  is  rueing||  that  ever  He  had 
handled  the  saints  as  He  did.  (Isaiah  Ixv.  18,  19), 
*•  Be  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  which  I  create  ; 
toi,  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her 
people  a  joy.  And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem,  and 
joy  in  My  people :  and  the  voice  of  weeping  shall 
be  no  more  heard  in  her,  nor  the  voice  of  crpng."  if 
ever  there  was  a  blythell  meeting  betwixt  two,  it  must 
be  betwixt  the  Bridegroom  and  the  bride  in  the  mar- 

*  '*  Whill,"  in  old  copies.  t  Bedewed  and  soiled. 

X  Sorry  is  her  heart.      §  Wipes.      |!  Repenting.      If  Happy. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  ^25 


riage-day.  And  what  a  meeting  there  is  of  joy  betwixt 
such  a  Bridegroom  and  bride  cannot  be  conceived. 
For  Christ,  that  day,  will  have  on  all  His  best  clothes. 
And  such  a  bride  as  the  Lamb's  wife  !  when  we  shall 
be  clothed,  and  not  a  wrong  pin  on  us  ;  a  fair  bride  in 
silk  and  purple  of  Christ's  own  busking.'^  And  what 
a  welcome  she  will  get !  To  get  a  drink  at  our  first 
meeting  and  incoming  to  heaven,  "  of  the  well  of  the 
water  of  life."  Oh,  strong  comforting  water !  And 
Christ  our  Lord  shall  present  His  bride  to  His  Father; 
and  our  Father-in-law,  the  Father  of  our  Husband, 
shall  take  us  by  the  hand  and  lead  us  benf  the  house 
to  the  dining  hall,  and  set  us  down  at  a  table  to  feast 
our  fill  upon  *'  the  tree  of  life " — to  feast  upon  the 
Trinity  for  evermore  !  Now,  mock  and  scorn  the 
way  to  heaven  as  ye  please ;  ye  never  heard  of  true 
happiness  till  now.  Here  is  a  "  banquet  of  joy  "  for 
evermore. 

*'  He  shall  wipe  aiuay  all  tears^ — Christ  our  Lord 
in  this  world  wipes  the  tears  from  His  bairns'  faces ; 
yet  after  that  they  weep  new  tears.  He  never  wipes 
away  all  tears  till  now.  Here  shall  be  our  last  "  good- 
night ^'  to  death — Good-night  to  crying,  and  mourning, 
and  sorrow  !  We  shall  be  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water,  and  over  beyond  the  black  river  of  death,  and 
shall  scorn  death;  for  Christ  shall  take  death  and 
hell  and  cast  them  in  the  prison  of  fire  (Rev.  xx.  14). 
The  mother  that  lost  her  bairns  shall  get  them — all 
the  Lord's  widows  shall  get  their  husbands — the  old 
world,  which  was  the  mourning  world,  shall  be  away. 
And  therefore,  never  till  now  shall  ^' all  tears"  be 
wiped  away. 

The  kiric  is  half  a  widow  here ;  her  Lord  is  in  an 

*  Dressing.  t  To  the  inner  part. 

P 


2  26  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


uncouth  country ;  far  from  her  home :  and  ilk  loon* 
round  about  plucks  at  this  sillyf  widow,  while  she  is  in 
the  valley  of  Baca,  wherein  is  no  water.  The  watch- 
men strike  her  and  take  her  veil  from  her ;  but  Christ 
writes  a  love  letter  to  her,  and  after  she  has  read  it 
she  rejoiceth  and  wipeth  her  face.  But  when  the  letter 
grows  old,  and  she  has  lost  the  letter,  new  troubles 
come  on ;  she  sheds  new  tears,  and  comes  under  new 
persecutions ;  and  her  Lord,  for  her  sins,  goes  in  be- 
hind the  wall  and  hides  Himself,  and  lets  her  mourn 
her  fill.  But  in  that  day  ''  He  will  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  her  eyes."  See  then  how  it  goes  here  in  this 
life — first  a  fair  day,  then  again  a  foul  day,  till  at  last 
that  fair  day  dawns  when  all  shadows  flee  away ;  and 
there  shall  never  be  a  foul  day  after  that ;  but  aye  the 
long,  lasting,  summer  day  for  evermore.  You  see  a 
man  travelling  to  his  home — here  is  a  water,  then  dry 
land;  then  another  water,  then  dry  land;  then  a  water, 
and  at  last  only  dry  land  between  him  and  his  home  : 
then  he  goes  home  to  his  wife  and  bairns,  and  has  no 
more  waters.  So  all  our  tears  are  never  dried  till  we 
come  to  heaven  ;  for  the  saints  have  a  liferent  tack  of 
the  cross  of  Christ,  while  we  are  here,  and  aye  ill 
weather — (Matt.  xvi.  i6) — ever  the  cross.  See  in  John 
xvi.  20,  22,  our  Lord  compares  our  troubles  to  the 
pains  that  come  upon  a  woman  in  travailing ;  now  a 
shower,  and  then  some  ease;  a  shower  again,  and  then 
ease — aye  till  the  last  shower  that  she  be  delivered, 
and  then  no  more  showers:  "She  remembereth  no 
more  the  anguish,  for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the 
world."  We  must  be  in  pain  ere  our  birth  be  bom ; 
but  we  shall  be  delivered  of  our  birth. 

Use  1st,     Let  us  prepare ;  for  tears  will  follow  us  to 

*  Each  low  fellow.  +  Feeble. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  227 


heaven;  unto  the  very  entry  of  the  door  our  face  shall 
be  wet,  for  we  go  out  of  this  hfe  sad  and  groaning  for 
this  miserable  life;  and  to  thrust  through  the  last  port, 
and  to  wade  through  the  hindermost  water — it  is  a  sore 
set.*  But  be  blythe,t  Christians,  and  grip  to  the 
promises.  God's  bairns  that  can  now  mourn  for  their 
own  sins,  and  the  sins  of  the  land,  rejoice  in  heaven ; 
there  are  never  seen  greeting  bairns:{:  there ;  God  has 
a  napkin  to  dight§  their  faces.  It  is  the  laughing,  re- 
joicing people  that  God  destroys.  But  ye  that  laugh 
now  (Luke  vi.  25),  (and  are  so  far  from  tears — that  ye 
mock  the  mourners  of  Zion),  you  may  sigh  and  close 
the  Bible,  and  say,  '^\las !  I  never  shed  a  tear  for  Christ ; 
your  text  is  not  for  me."  It  may  be  Christ  shall  that 
day  make  you  weep  and  shed  tears  for  evermore.  This 
sour,  laughing  world  will  pass  away — there  is  a  day  of 
tears  coming  on  you;  ^^greetingH  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
And  when  a  man  gnasheth  his  teeth,  one  against 
another,  he  has  no  mind  of  laughing.  I  would  not 
have  your  mirth  for  a  world.  Be  doing ;  we  shall  see 
who  will  laugh  fastest  yon  day. 

Use  2nd.  There  is  an  ill  coming  on  this  land.  Sin 
is  not  come  to  full  harvest.  Often  have  I  told  you  of 
a  fan  of  God's  word  to  come  among  you,  for  the  con- 
tempt of  it.  I  have  told  you  often  of  wrath — wrath 
from  the  Lord  to  come  upon  Scotland,  and  yet  I  bide 
by  my  Master's  word ;  it  is  quickly  coming — desolation 
for  Scotland,  because  of  the  quarrel  of  a  broken  cove- 
nant. Now,  my  dear  people,  my  joy  and  crown,  seek 
the  Lord  and  His  face;  let  Him  be  your  fear.  "Flee 
to  your  stronghold,  ye  prisoners  of  hope."  Doves,  flee 
to  Christ's  windows,  and  save  your  souls. 

*  Difficult  work.       +  Cheerful.       X  Weeping  children. 
§  Wipe.  1!  Weeping. 


2  2  8  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Verse  5.  ^'  And  He  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said, 
Behold,  I  make  all  things  new,  A7id  He  said  unto  me. 
Write;  for  these  words  are  true  and  faithful,''^ 

John  heareth  more  of  Christ — a  sweet  speech. 
Here  are  three  things  mentioned — ist,  a  speaker; 
2nd,  a  speech ;  3rd,  a  direction  to  keep  the  speech. 

I.  A  speaker.  ''  He  that  sat  upon  the  throned — Who 
spake  the  speech  is  not  told,  whether  an  angel  or  an 
earthly  king,  for  they  sit  on  thrones  also.  But  it  is 
He  of  whom  it  is  said  (Rev.  iv.  2),  "And  behold  a 
throne  was  set  in  heaven,  and  one  sat  on  the  throne." 
John  tells  not  His  name,  but  he  thinks  so  much  of 
Him,  that  he  takes  it  for  granted  that  there  is  none 
worthy  to  be  a  King  but  He,  and  to  sit  on  a  throne 
but  He.  The  saints  measure  all  the  affections  of 
others  by  their  own  affections.  As,  if  one  speired*  at 
John,  *' Who  is  He  that  sits  upon  the  throne?''  he 
would  have  answered,  "What  needs  you  speir?  is 
there  any  in  heaven  or  earth,  in  my  estimation,  worthy 
to  be  a  King  but  He?  and  to  sit  on  a  throne  but  He? 
and  to  take  a  crown  upon  His  head  but  He?"  The 
saints  set  aye  Christ  alone — they  set  Him  above  all. 
Speak  of  kings  to  them ;  but  Christ  is  out  of  play.  So 
(Cant.  iii.  3),  the  kirk,  meeting  with  "  the  watchmen," 
saith,  "  Saw  ye  Him  whom  my  soul  loveth  ?  "  What 
kennedf  the  watchman  of  Him  whom  her  soul  loved? 
for  she  might  have  loved  a  loon,  or  a  harlot,  or  an 
idol-god,  or  the  world.  But  she  measureth  the  watch- 
man by  herself  There  was  none  in  her  mind  but 
Christ ;  and  therefore  she  needed  not  to  tell  them,  as 
she  thought.  So  Mary  Magdalene  (John  xx.  15)  says 
to  the  gardener  (as  she  thought),  "  Sir,  if  ye  have 
borne  Him  hence,  tell  me  where  ye  have  laid  Him." 

*  Inquired.  t  Knew. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


229 


She  tells  not  what  //////,  taking  as  granted,  that  what 
so  much  possessed  her  own  soul  would  doubtless 
equally  occupy  the  thoughts  of  every  other ;  and  none 
was  so  much  in  her  mind  as  Christ.  Now,  I  pray  you, 
let  the  same  mind  be  in  you  that  was  in  John  and  in 
Mary.  Let  Christ  be  to  your  soul  the  pearl  of  the 
ring.  Among  all  kings,  Christ  should  be  made  high, 
and  esteemed  by  us  as  He — the  only  He — that  is 
worthy  to  '^  sit  on  a  throne."  So,  in  Cant.  v.  10,  He 
is  to  the  kirk  *' the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand." 
Gather  all  the  angels  in  heaven  and  earth  together ; 
Christ  is  too  good  to  be  their  Captain.  And,  indeed^ 
what  is  all  that  sits  on  a  throne?  It  must  be  infinitely 
more  in  Him.  And  whatever  glory  is  in  the  world,  is 
far  more  in  Him.  Take  all  the  roses  in  the  earth, 
and  put  them  all  in  one,  that  would  be  a  dainty  thing 
and  sight.  But  what  are  all  these  to  Christ? — no 
more  than  a  nettle  to  the  fairest  rose.  Fie  upon  the 
tasteless  love  of  men,  that  never  loveth  Jesus  Christ, 
and  yet  falleth  in  love  with  lusts.  They  love  gold, 
riches,  and  honour,  and  put  Christ  to  a  backside.  Ay, 
Christ  gets  not  His  own  among  us.  We  recommend 
Him  not ;  neither  will  we  match  with  Him. 

2.  A  speech.  "  I  will  make  all  things  neiv.^^ — This 
is  as  much  as,  all  things  are  old.  Sin  hath  made  all 
things  old.  They  are  like  a  woman  groaning  in  child- 
birth with  pain  and  vanity,  because  of  our  sin  (Rom. 
viii.  22).  All  the  creatures  are  sickened  because  of 
sin.  Because  of  our  sin,  vanity  came  on  the  sun, 
moon,  and  other  creatures.  They  sigh  under  this, 
and  pray,  in  their  kind,  a  malison*  and  a  woe  to  man, 
for  sin  has  made  us  all  miserable.  The  heavens,  that 
are  the  fairest  part  of  the  great  web  of  the  world,  "wax 


>.^>.^>.N.N,-V 


*  Evil ;  curse. 


230 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


old  as  a  garment ;"  the  prophet  saith  they  are  like  an 
old  clout. '^  The  water  saith,  "Let  me  drown  sinners 
— they  hav^e  sinned  against  my  Lord ;"  the  fire  saith, 
"Let  me  bum  them — let  me  bum  Sodom,  for  they 
have  sinned  against  my  Lord."  All  things  have  lost 
the  glory  that  they  got  at  their  first  creation.  Jesus 
seeth  all  things  gone  wrong,  and  quite  out  of  order, 
and  man  fallen  from  his  Lord.  And  He  did  even 
with  the  world  as  the  pilot,  who,  when  an  unattentive 
man  at  the  rudder  was  steering  the  ship  on  a  sand- 
bank, stept  in  quickly  and  turned  her  incontinent,  or 
else  all  would  have  gone  to  confusion.  So  our  Lord 
stept  in  when  the  great  ship  of  this  world  was  running 
on  a  sand-bed;  and  when  the  sun  and  the  moon 
looked  sad-like,  and  said  they  would  not  serve  us,  He 
renewed  them  by  His  death,  made  them  all  laugh  on 
the  elect  again,  and  gave  them  all  a  suit  of  new 
clothes. 

Drunkards,  Christ  gave  His  blessing  on  the  wine 
that  ye  spue  on  the  walls.  Ye  that  dishonour  your 
jNIaker  with  your  vain  apparel,  ye  know  not  what  it 
cost  Christ  our  Lord  to  buy  a  right  to  those  things 
that  ye  abuse  in  vanity.  All  that  set  the  world  in 
their  hearts,  where  the  Lord  should  be,  forget  that 
Christ  bought  the  world  to  be  their  ser\^ant,  and  not 
to  be  as  their  darling  and  wife  that  lies  in  their  bosom. 
Ye  that  make  the  earth,  and  the  broad  acres  of  it, 
your  soul's  portion,  forget  that  Christ  bought  the 
earth,  and  made  it  new,  to  be  a  footstool,  and  not 
a  chair  for  our  souls  to  sit  down  in.  And  if  Christ 
has  this  art  to  make  all  things  new,  come  to  Him  all 
ye  that  are  old.  Oh,  ye  that  have  old  hearts  !  come. 
Christ  may  get  His  craft  among  ye,  if  ye  would  come 

Raff. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


531 


to  Him.  "He  makes  all  things  new."  The  devil 
has  borrowed  your  heart  for  covetousness,  and  crooked 
it  with  the  thorny  cares  of  this  world,  and  holed*^  it, 
and  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  it.  Oh  !  if  ye  would 
put  it  in  Christ's  hand,  He  would  put  it  into  His  fur- 
nace, and  melt  it  again,  and  by  His  art  bring  it  out  a 
new  heart  for  Himself  to  dwell  in.  Alas  !  Christ  gets 
not  His  trade  or  calling  among  us.  But  why  are  not 
our  old  hearts  mended  ?  Because  we  handle  them  as 
a  foolish  mother  doth  her  dawted  bairn  ;t  she  will  not 
let  him  go  to  the  school  to  learn,  and  why  ? — because 
she  dowj  not  want  him  out  of  her  sight.  She  will 
therefore  never  let  him  do  well,  but  feeds  him  for  the 
gallows.  We  dow  not  give  away  our  souls  to  Christ, 
who  would  fain  have,  and  could  easily  mend  them. 
But  lust,  or  pride,  or  covetousness,  like  the  foolish 
mother,  keeps  them  out  of  Christ^s  company  ;  so  that 
we  will  not  let  that  dear  craftsman,  who  made  the 
earth  under  our  feet  and  the  mountains  new,  make 
our  old  hearts  new.  Our  souls  are  all  hanging  in 
tatters,  worn  and  old  with  sin,  and  yet  we  dow  not 
put  them  in  Christ's  hand,  that  He  might  make  them 
whole  and  cleanse  them.  Fie  upon  thee,  that  thy 
garden,  cursed  in  Adam's  day  to  bring  forth  nettles 
and  thorns,  is  blessed  again  to  bring  forth  fruit  in 
Christ,  and  thy  soul  gets  not  so  much  of  Him  as  thy 
yard ;  it  is  made  new,  but  thy  soul  remains  old.  Oh  ! 
bring  it  to  Jesus  ;  He  will  create  in  you  a  clean  heart, 
and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  you.  Indeed,  Christ 
may  get  His  craft  among  ye,  if  you  would  go  to  Him; 
for  it  is  His  trade  to  "  make  all  things  new." 

3.  A  direction  to  keep  the  speech.     "  And  He  said 

*  Made  it  full  of  holes.    See  his  "  Letters."  t  Indulged  child. 
X  Dare  not ;  cannot. 


232 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


unto  me,  Write;  for  these  words  ai'e  trice  and  faithficL^^ 
— He  bids  John  write  these  things  about  the  state  of 
the  glorified,  and  calls  them  faithful  and  true.  He 
would  not  intrust  His  word  to  man's  memory  and 
conscience — He  would  have  it  written.  Blasphemous 
Papists,  laugh  not  at  this,  nor  call  the  Pope's  breast 
the  Bible ;  here  is  a  warrant  for  written  Scripture. 
Indeed,  it  tells  us  that  man's  falsehood  wore  his  con- 
science. Had  his  conscience  been  a  faithful  register, 
there  should  have  been  no  need  of  a  written  Bible. 
But  now  the  Lord  has  lippened^--'  more  to  dead  paper 
than  to  a  living  man's  soul.  Our  conscience,  now 
under  sin,  had  not  been  a  good  Bible,  because  man  is 
ready  to  run  away  from  his  conscience,  and  because 
what  is  written  on  our  conscience  (as,  that  there  is  a 
God — a  judgment — a  heaven — a  hell),  Satan  and  sin 
come  in  as  two  false  witnesses  and  blot  it  out,  and 
^vrite  that  in  the  fool's  heart  that  says,  "'  There  is  no 
God."  And  there  are  many  holes  in  our  souls ;  the 
word  of  God  comes  in  and  runs  out  again  at  back- 
spouts,  except  Jesus  make  our  souls  waterfast,  so  that 
"  the  word  of  God  may  dwell  in  us  plentifully  '^  (Col. 
iii.  1 6).  Are  not  our  hearts  compared  to  a  field, 
wherein  the  preacher  sows  the  seed,  and  the  black 
spirits  of  hell  come  and  gather  up  Christ's  wheat? 
Oh  !  but  there  are  many  running-out  souls ;  and 
much  need  we  have  of  a  written  Bible.  Therefore 
make  much  of  the  written  word,  and  pray  God  to 
copy  His  Bible  into  your  conscience,  and  write  a  new 
book  of  His  doctrine  in  your  hearts,  and  put  it  in  the 
conscience  as  He  directs  (Jer.  xxxi.) 

Verse  6.  '' And  He  said  tmto  me,  It  is  done.     I  am 
Alpha  and  Ojnega^  the  beginning  and  the  end.     1  will 

Trusted. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


233 


give  u?iio  him  that  is  athirst  of  tJic  fount ai7i  of  the  7uater 
of  life  freely:' 

Here,  also,  are  three  things — ist,  a  prophecy;  2nd, 
a  description ;  3rd,  a  promise  of  water. 

I.  A  prophecy.  Christ  says  to  John,  "7/  is  done:' 
— That  is  exponed  in  Rev.  xvi.  and  xvii.  The  world 
is  ended.  So  speaks  Christ  of  the  world.  The  glory 
of  it  passeth  away  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and 
Christ  crieth  to  those  that  have  the  world  in  both 
their  arms,  "  It  is  done,"  it  is  a  past  thing,  there  is 
no  more  of  it.  It  is  but  a  word  to  our  Lord.  He 
said,  ''  Let  all  things  be,"  and  they  were ;  He  will  say, 
*'  Let  all  things  depart,"  and  they  will  be  at  an  end. 
We  are  beginning  with  the  world  as  if  it  would  be 
evermore  ours ;  and  our  Lord  says,  in  a  moment, 
*'  Let  it  be  plucked  from  them,"  and  it  is  done.  It 
is  not  for  nothing  that  the  taking  down  of  this  inn  of 
heaven  and  earth  is  touched  in  so  {^\n  words — ''  It  is 
done."  For  it  is  an  easy  thing  for  the  Almighty  to 
take  in  His  own  hand  the  staves  that  hold  up  this  fair 
tent,  and,  when  He  pulleth  it.  He  garreth'-'  it  come 
down  with  a  tilt.  So  (Rev.  vii.  i),  four  angels  are 
brought  in,  '^  holding  the  four  winds  of  the  earth,"  as 
if  they  had  the  world  in  their  hands,  and  as  if  they 
had  it  ready  to  fold  up  as  a  sheet.  And  oh  !  what  a 
fighting  and  business  do  men  make  to  get  a  cloutf  of 
this  sheet ! — he  staring  out  his  eyes — and  he  setting 
out  his  neck,  for  a  piece  of  this  holly;  clout  and  sheet, 
and  for  a  gloib§  of  the  earth.  But  (see  Rev.  vi.  14), 
*'  The  heavens  shall  depart  away  like  a  scroll "  of 
parciiment  that  is  rolled  together,  and  the  fair  stories 
thereof  are  like  figs  ;  with  the  shake  of  the  Almighty's 

*  Compels;  causes.  t  A  piece  of  linen  rag. 

X  Tattered  ;  full  of  holes.         §  Piece  of  ground  ;  glebe. 


234 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


arm  shall  they  fall  together  to  the  ground.  And,  what 
is  more,  with  a  touch  of  the  Almighty's  hand,  or  a 
putt  of  His  little  finger,  or  a  blast  of  His  mouth,  say- 
ing, "It  is  done,"  the  cupples'^  of  the  walls  of  the  house 
shall  come  do^vn.  Now,  I  cannot  but  speak  of  fools 
that  have  their  heads  full  of  windmills,  and  cry  it  is 
beginning,  "To-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day,  and 
much  more  abundant"  (Isaiah  Ivi.  12),  and  there  is 
no  end  of  buying  and  selHng.  I  came  not  here  to 
bid  anybody  be  unthrifty ;  but  be  not  like  bairns  build- 
ing sandy  bourocksf  at  a  burn-side,  when  presently  a 
speat  of  water  comes  and  spills  all  their  sport,  or  a 
shower  chases  them  in  from  their  play.  Men  are  ever 
bigging  castles  in  the  air.  In  very  deed,  we  are  like 
bairns  holding  the  water  at  a  river  side  with  their 
hands.  They  think  (daftj  things)  they  hold  the  water, 
while  in  the  meantime  it  runs  through  their  fingers. 
And  what  says  God  of  honour,  riches,  pleasure,  lands, 
fair  houses,  and  sums  of  money?  Even  that  in  a 
word,  "all  is  done."  Ask  of  them  that  had  the  world 
and  broad  acres  once  at  will  what  is  to  the  fore  ?  And 
what  is  to  the  fore§  of  so  many  thousands  ?  What  has 
the  world  of  them  but  their  name  ?  And  what  if  their 
name  be  lost  too  ?  for  what  is  their  name  ?  Ten  or 
eleven  letters  of  the  ABC;  and  for  their  bodies — 
howbeit,  when  they  were  living,  kingdoms  would  not 
content  them — the  clay  into  which  their  bodies  are 
dissolved  would  not  now  fill  a  glove.  I  think  that  a 
true  and  a  strange  spoken  word  (Isaiah  xi.  22),  "God 
sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof  are  as  grasshoppers."  We  even  creep 
like  grasshoppers  up  and  down  the  globe  of  this  earth, 

*  The  couples  are  two  rafters  joined  at  top.  +  Places  of  shelter. 
X  Out  of  their  right  mind.  §  Remains  still. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  235 


and  cry  to  men  of  the  vanities  of  all  things,  while 
death  comes,  like  a  common  thief,  without  any  din  or 
feet,  and  plucks  them  away,  and  there  is  no  more  of 
them;  then  they  say,  *' It  is  done."  All  men  must 
confess  it  is  true  that  I  say ;  but  I  think  to  be  dead 
ere  they  believe  it,  and  act  accordingly,  or  be  brought 
to  hate  the  world.  I  think  the  world  is  the  devil's 
great  herry-water-net,'''  that  has  taken  thousands  and 
slain  them.  Ye  say  ye  are  sure  of  it.  Then  I  say  ye 
are  a  dieted!  horse  for  heaven. 

2.  The  second  thing  that  is  in  the  verse  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  Christ — '^I  a??i  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginnmg 
a}id  the  e?id.^' — Our  Lord  here  being  to  make  an  offer 
of  the  water  of  Hfe,  He  first  showeth  what  He  is — even 
the  first  and  the  last  letter  of  the  alphabet — the  Ancient 
of  Days — the  Eternal  Son  of  the  Eternal  God.  This 
teaches  us  that  we  may  crackj  more  of  our  old  holding, 
and  old  charter,  than  all  the  world  can  do.  For  why? 
When  began  Christ  to  bear  a  good  will  to  a  sinner  ? 
Even  when  He  began  to  be  God ;  and  He  was  God 
from  all  eternity.  Suppose  the  sun  in  the  firmament 
were  eternal,  the  light  of  it  behoved  to  be  eternal;  for 
the  light  of  the  sun  is  as  old  as  the  sun.  Now  love  is 
a  beam  of  life  and  heat  that  comes  from  Christ,  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness ;  therefore  ever  living  Christ — 
ever  living  love.  For  love  comes  not  on  Christ  the 
day,  which  was  not  in  Him  yesterday.  Man's  love 
and  a  king's  love  are  hunted  for  ver)^  much ;  and  yet 
they  die,  and  their  love  dies  with  them,  and  often 
their  love  dies  before  themselves.  But  who  seeks 
Christ's  love,  that  ^'changes  not?"  Yea,  this  a  matter 
of  admiration  and  wonder,  that  Christ  should  have 
thought  on  us  wonns  of  the  clay  ere  ever  we  were, 

*  Great  trawling  net.         t  Well  fed.         X  Talk  freely. 


^]> 


9'Z 


~\ 


sj 


236  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


and  that  our  salvation  is  as  old  as  evermore — as  old 
fas  Christ,  and  Christis_-as-old.as  God ! 

Indeed,  if  God  should  begin  at  any  point  of  ,time 

to  love  sinners.  His  love  would  have  had  a  beginning ; 

and  if  His  love  had  a  beginning,  Christ  Himself  would 

\    have  had  a  beginning,  because  love  with  Him  is  ,x>ne 

\  with  His  essence  and  nature.    But  it  may  be  said,  can 

)  thelove  of  God  be  older  than  the  death  of  Christ? 

Answer.  Christ's  death  doth  not  properly  make  God  a 

hater  or  a  lover  of  man ;  for  then  both  His  will  should 

be  changeable  and  His  love  have  a  beginning.     How 

then?    Christ's  death  doth  only  let  that  God  kythe*  the 

fruits  of  His  eternal  love  out  upon  us,  but  after  such  a 

way  as  He  thought  convenient  for  His  justice ;  and 

therefore  7ue  are  said  in  Scripture  *^  to  be  reconciled 

unto  God,"  and  not  God  to  be  reconciled  unto  us. 

His  love_is.  everlasting ;  because  by  order  of  nature  it 

was  before  the  seed,  before  we  had  done  either  good 

or  evil;  so  that  sin  could  not  change  God's  mind. 

But  only  by  the  order  of  justice,  sin  stood  in  the  way 

[  to  hinder  us  of  life  everlasting,  which  is  a  fruit  of  His 

1  love.     Yea,  more,  God  with  that  same  love  in  Christ, 

/  loveth  the  elect   before   and  after   conversion  ;"  and 

J    therefore,  in   feeling   any   of  God's   love   to   us,  we 

\    have  to  rejoice  in  Christ.      It   is  old  acquaintance 

!    between  Him  and  us.     And  therefore,  as  it  is  folly 

'   in  man  (as  Solomon  saith)  to  cast  off  his  old  friend, 

and  his  father's  friend,  so  let  us  think  it  madness  to 

cast  off  such  an  old  friend  as  Christ.     And  under 

temptations  and  desertions,  let  our  faith  hold  fast  by 

this — Alpha  and  Omega  change th  not ;  the  change  is 

in  us. 

3.  The  third  thing  in  the  words  is  a  promise  of  the 

*  Permit  God  to  shew. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  237 


water  of  life  to  the  thirsty — ^'  I  will  give  unto  him  that 
is  athirst  of  the  foujitain  of  the  water  of  life  freely'^ 
(Isaiah  Iv.  i,  and  John  iv.  14).  Christ  at  the  market- 
cross  cries  the  well  free.     Here  learn, 

I  St.  The  thirsty  and  hungry  souls  are  meetest  for 
the  water  of  life.  What !  (ye  will  say)  and  are  not  all 
thirsty  ?  Yes  ;  all  want  the  life  of  God,  and  the  sap 
of  grace,  and  are  burnt  and  withered  at  the  root ;  but 
all  know  not  their  own  want.  Here  is  indeed  a  special 
comfort  for  the  weak  ones  who  say,  "  Oh  !  I  know 
Christ  doth  good  to  believers,  to  repenters,  and  to 
such  as  love  Him  ;  but  I  dow  not,  cannot,  win  to 
faith  and  repentance,  hope  and  patience ;  I  have  too 
short  an  arm  to  rax*  so  high."  Then,  say  I,  have  ye 
a  desire — a  hunger — for  faith,  and  repentance,  and 
love?  Now,  upon  your  conscience,  speak  the  truth. 
I  trow  ye  cannot  deny  it.  Then  your  Lord  bids  you 
come — the  well  is  open  to  you  ;  for  hunger  and  thirst 
being  next  to  motion,  and  the  two  properties  that 
begin  first  with  life,  so  every  one  that  is  new-born  is 
lively,  and  hath  a  stomach  for  meat  and  drink.  '^  Oh 
but,"  say  ye,  "  I  am  many  times,  in  my  soul,  at  death's 
door.  I  have  neither  faith  nor  feeling.  I  am  even  at 
this — *God  loves  me  not,'  and  the  well  is  not  ordained 
for  me  at  these  times."  Would  ye  fain  be  at  the  well? 
In  my  mind  ye  cannot  win  away.  In  the  children  of 
God,  when  at  the  lowest  ebb — even  when  faith,  com- 
fort, joy,  love,  and  disposition  to  pray  is  away — is 
there  not  a  longing  for  a  presence  ?  I  speak  to  the 
conscience  of  God's  child;  lie  not.  David  (Psalm  vi.), 
when  he  thought  God  spake  to  him  in  wrath,  was  at, 
"How  long,  Lord?" — a  cutting  word.  I  think  he 
looked  like  a  hungry  beast  looking  over  the  dyke  ;  he 

*  Reach. 


238  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


would  fain  have  a  mouthful.  He  was  going  about  to 
seek  a  slapp'-'  to  break  over  the  dyke  of  his  doubtings. 
And  so  it  is  with  God's  bairns,  under  their  thirstf  for 
the  water  of  the  well  of  life.  See  Canticles  iii.,  when 
the  kirk  can  get  no  speiring  of  Christ,  and  has  no 
smell  of  Him,  and  cannot  find  the  print  of  His  foot, 
yet  she  is  at  this,  "  Saw  ye  Him  whom  my  soul 
loveth  ?''  And  (chap.  v.  8),  '•  I  charge  you,  O 
daughters  of  Jerusalem,  if  ye  find  my  Beloved,  that 
ye  tell  Him,  that  I  am  sick  of  love.''  Then  let  me 
now  tell  you  weak  ones  who  are  Christ's  companions, 
and  who  it  is  shall  drink  with  Him,  and  get  their 
hearts  and  heads  full  of  the  water  of  life — even  the 
tender  Christians  that  are  aye  seeking.  The  bairn  in 
Christ's  house  that  is  most  cumbersome,  and  makes 
most  din  for  his  meat,  is  the  best  bairn  that  Christ 
has.  The  bairn  that  is  greeting^  ilk  hour  of  the  day 
for  a  piece  and  a  drink — we  say  of  such  a  silly  thing, 
''  He  would  fain  love."  Aye,  the  cumbersomer§  that 
Christ's  bairns  be,  they  are  welcomer.  Na,  He  loveth 
the  bairns  best  that  have  no  shame,  and  are  aye  cry- 
ing, ''  Alas !  black  hunger,  dear  Lord  Jesus ;  I  am 
burnt  with  thirst ;  oh  for  an  open  cold  fountain  1" 
Oh,  it  is  a  sweet  thing  aye  to  be  whinging,||  and  crying, 
and  seeking  about  Christ's  pantry  doors,  and  to  hold 
aye  an  eye  upon  Christ  when  He  goes  into  the  house 
of  wine,  into  His  Father's  fair  lucky  wine-cellar,  where 
there  are  many  wines ;  and  boutH  in  at  Christ's  back  ! 
But,  in  a  word,  have  ye  a  good  stomach? — much 
hunger  and  thirst  ?  Well,  ye  shall  get  much  satisfac- 
tion of  grace  in  Christ.  Is  there  not  a  time  when  ye 
cannot  get  a  presence,  and  ye  have  no  pith  to  put  up 

*  An  opening.  t  Opportunity  of  enquiring. 

X  \Yeeping  every  hour.     §  Troublesome.     ||  Whining.     H  Push. 


COMMUNION  SEKAiONS,  239 


the  door  and  bout  in,  but  ye  put  it  half  up  and  blink* 
in?  Love  ye  to  pray,  or  desire  ye  but  a  desire  of 
prayer?  Hold  on  then;  ye  are  right.  The  true 
desire  is  absolute,  and  not  conditional.  Xot  like  the 
sluggard  that  would  have  a  crop,  upon  condition  he 
might  have  a  feather  bed  to  lie  on  for  fear  of  cold. 
Even  so  some  would  have  heaven,  upon  condition 
that  they  might  keep  their  lusts,  and  take  their  lusts 
with  them. 

Now,  who  are  they  that  are  debarred  from  Christ's 
well  ?  Answer.  Those  who  have  gotten  an  ill  drink  from 
the  devil,  full  of  lusts,  pride,  and  covetousness — full 
of  love  of  the  world.  Such  are  they  that  have  no 
stomach  for  Christ.  Alas  !  and  woes  me  !  Christ 
standeth  at  the  well's  side,  and  crieth,  "  The  back  of 
My  handf  to  you.''  The  Lord  Jesus  gives  such  a 
vomit-drink,  that  they  may  grow  wholesome  and 
hungry  again  for  Christ ;  for  till  then  they  are  never 
meet  for  Him. 

2nd.  But,  secondly,  hunger  is  aye  seeking  through 
the  house;  for  the  belly  can  hardly  play  the  hypocrite. 
The  natural  man  is  in  darkness — he  is  in  a  sleep — it 
it  is  night  with  him.  He  is  like  a  cumbersome  bairn 
greeting  in  the  night  for  a  drink,  and  crying,  ''  Who 
will  shew  me  any  good  ?"  (Psalm  iv.  6).  And  Satan 
is  ready  at  his  elbow  with  his  dishful  of  the  dirty,  miry 
waters  of  lust  to  the  w^orld;  and  he  drinks  till  he 
sweats  and  tines  J  breath;  and  tines  all  sight  and 
desire  of  Christ,  "  the  Fountain  of  the  Water  of  Life." 
It  is  true  this  fountain  is  said  to  proceed  *^  out  of  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb"  (Rev.  xxii.  i).  But 
it  is  all  one ;  for  the  streams  of  the  water  of  life  pro- 
ceed from  the  fountain,  Christ.     How,  then,  is  the 

*  Look  in.         t  I  refuse  you.         +  Loses. 


2  40 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


water  Christ  ?  Answer.  It  is  Christ-man^  dying,  and 
sending  out  His  heart's  blood  for  quenching  the 
thirst  of  such  poor  sinners  as  find  the  fire  of  hell 
at  the  stomach  of  their  souls,  burning  them  up  with 
the  fire  of  the  wrath  of  God  for  sin.  This  is  the  well : 
this  is  why  He  is  called  "  a  fountain  of  the  water  of 
life."  A  man,  burnt  with  thirst,  nothing  can  quench 
him  ;  no,  not  a  world  of  gold  is  so  good  as  a  drink  of 
pure,  cold,  clean,  fountain  water.  In  a  word,  a  soul 
wakened  under  sin  findeth  nothing  in  the  world  satis- 
factory to  the  soul's  appetite  but  in  Christ.  Tell  me, 
art  thou  a  thirsty  sinner  after  Christ  ?  Then  thy  soul 
is  dead  sick  while  ye  get  Him.  Is  a  man  faint,  and 
fatigued,  and  way-worn?  Lay  him  down  on  a  soft 
bed,  dry  the  sweat  off  him,  give  him  a  cold  refreshing 
drink.  In  like  manner,  ye  cannot  speak  such  a  word 
to  a  soul  bursting  under  sin,  as  to  lay  it  upon  a 
crucified  Christ.  Oh,  that  is  a  soft  bed  !  His  sinful 
soul  being  stretched  upon  the  open  wounds  and  warm- 
flowing  blood  of  Christ.  Oh,  that  is  a  soft  bed  !  Oh, 
but  a  part  of  Christ's  blood  is  a  refreshing,  cooling 
drink  to  him  !  A  slave  of  hell  to  know  that  he  is 
made  a  free  heir  of  heaven — oh,  that  is  sweet !  Hence 
it  is  that  those  who  are  wakened  with  the  furies  of 
hell,  howbeit  they  know  not  yet  what  Christ  is  to 
them,  yet  this  world  cannot  calm  their  conscience — 
because  for  men  that  are  soul-sick  and  sin-sick  there 
is  no  physic  but  one — only  a  *'  drink  of  the  well  of 
life."  And  because  they  ken  not  the  gate  to  this  well 
of  life,  they,  in  despair,  loup*  out  of  this  life  into  the 
fire  of  hell,  through  the  madness  of  an  awakened  con-  ^ 
science.  A  thirsty  soul  finds  two  things  in  Christ, 
never  to  be  found  in  all  the  world  or  in  anything  else. 

*  Leap. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


241 


ist.  Christ  takes  off  the  hardness  of  sin.  None  has 
power  to  do  this  but  He.  All  the  pardons  of  sin  are 
in  Christ's  keeping,  and  of  Christ's  making.  It  is  His 
office  to  forgive  sin.  2nd.  They  find  in  Him  an 
influence  and  abundance  of  happiness,  so  as  what 
they  sought  before  in  the  creature,  they  find  nowhere 
else  but  in  Him.  Then  speak  to  them  of  gold — it  is 
nothing  to  Christ.  Speak  of  lands  and  lordships — a 
Saviour,  and  such  a  Saviour,  is,  and  has  another  name 
to  a  sinner  that  is  awakened. 

3rd.  The  text  calls  Him  ''the  water  of  life''  We 
see  here  there  is  some  water  that  is  rotten  and  ill- 
tasted.  Will  a  thirsty  man  drink  of  it  ?  He  shall 
not  be  the  better.  But  the  wholesomest  water  is  the 
running  spring;  so  all  that  sinners  can  get  beside 
Christ  is  standing  water.  Let  them  drink  in  gold, 
and  kingdoms,  and  lands ;  these  will  never  be  satisfy- 
ing to  a  sick  soul  as  He  will  be.  And  they  who  have 
drunk  in  these,  at  death  would  be  content  to  spue 
them  out  again;  they  lie  so  heavy  upon  their  stomach. 
But  Christ  is  the  cooling,  wholesome  spring — "  the 
well  of  water  springing  up  to  eternal  life."  Now,  to 
make  our  use  of  this.  Seeing  Christ  is  such  a  living 
well  of  water,  how  comes  it  that  under  the  gospel 
there  are  so  many  dry  and  withered  souls  ?  I  answer; 
for  God's  part,  indeed,  God  has  not  put  an  iron  lock 
upon  the  well  of  life ;  but  Christ,  by  His  word  and  ^ 
sacraments,  opens  the  well  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  for 
seventy  years  and  more  in  this  kingdom  the  well  has 
been  open — Christ  and  His  messengers  have  been 
crying  to  dry  souls.  But  now,  for  aught  we  see.  He 
will  close  the  well  again.  He  has  been  setting  out 
the  means  of  life,  and  opening  the  booth-doors  to  give 
us  freely,  even  to  such  as  would  take  it ;  but  He  gets 
no  sale.  Therefore  He  must  put  up  His  wares  and 
Q 


242  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


go  away,  for  men  are  not  thirsty  for  His  waters.  But 
one  thirsts  for  court  and  honour,  another  for  lust  and 
money,  and  a  third  for  sinful  pleasures.  There  be 
few  stomachs  gaping  for  Christ.  They  have  not  a 
vessel  to  cast  down  into  the  well  and  take  up  water. 
This  is  a  fruitless  generation.  Oh,  we  loathe  Christ, 
and  Christ  loathes  us.  We  need  speak  no  more  of  the 
call  of  the  word.  All  the  land — court,  king,  noble- 
men, and  kirkmen — have  spued  the  waters,  by  despis- 
ing grace  and  contemning  the  gospel;  and  in  very 
deed,  when  we  cast  in  clay  and  mud  in  Christ's  well, 
and  mix  His  worship  with  the  poison  of  the  whore's 
well  of  Rome,  what  do  we  else  but  provoke  the  Lord 
to  close  the  well  ? 

^^  I  will  give  it  freely r — So  are  all  Christ's  mercies 
given  of  gTace.  His  mercy  is  for  nothing,  and  of  free 
.  grace.  I  grant  the  well  is  dear  to  Christ.  Go4'^ 
j  I] stice  digged  it  out  of  His  side,  and  heart,  and  hands, 
and  feet.  The  man,  Christ,  got  not  this  water  for 
nothing ;  yet  He  gives  it  to  us  for  nothing,  because 
He  minds  not  to  make  a  gain  of  us.  We  live  upon 
Christ's  winning.  For  know  ye  that  Christ,  who  re- 
deemed many,  did  so,  by  the  rule  of  justice,  since 
''He  gave  Himself,"  and  has  bought  all  ''with  His 
own  blood ;"  so  that  in  this  sense  Christ  was  bought 
to  us  with  blood,  else  we  could  not  get  Him,  for  He 
was  both  the  price _.and  the  wares.  So  that,  as  far  as 
we  can  see,  it  was  decreed  by  the  Lord,  by  order  of 
justice,  that  Christ  could  not  have  lived  and  given  to 
us  the  waters  of  life.  It  was  dear  water  to  Him ;  for 
in  the  garden  God  deserted  Him,  and  blood  came 
out ;  on  the  cross  God  bruised  Him,  and  blood  came 
out ;  and  that  is  the  well  we  have  here.  We  think 
we  would  have  something  to  give  to  Christ  for  the 
water  of  life — some  of  our  own  righteousness — some 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


243 


of  our  own  worthiness  ;  but  this  is  plastered  humiHty, 
watered*  copper.  And  in  doing  so  we  refuse  grace, 
and  make  grace  to  be  no  more  grace;  for  if  it  be 
given  for  any  worth  in  us,  then  it  is  no  more  grace. 
Let  men  here  see,  then,  that  the  kingdom  of  grace  is 
a  good,  cheap  world,  where  the  best  things  are  gotten 
for  nothing.  And  therefore,  I  think  in  this  dear 
world,  where  all  things  go  for  money,  whose  court 
costs  expenses,  lands  are  dear,  gold  is  not  gotten 
for  nought,  and  law^  is  dearer  than  ever  it  was.  Yea, 
paper  and  ink  are  dearer  than  jewels  and  gold  rings 
w^ere  long  syne.  Nothing  now  is  bought  for  nought. 
Yet  Christ  for  all  that  will  not  change  His  word.  All 
things  with  Him  are  given  gratis,  and  ye  are  welcome 
when  all  is  done.  Here  we  get  no  garments  for 
nought,  no  physic  for  nought;  but  Christ  gives  'Svhite 
raiment,"  ^'  eye  salve,"  and  all  for  nought.  Sinners 
say,  '^  Lord,  w^hat  take  Ye  for  the  water  of  life?"  He 
answers,  *'  Even  nothing,  and  yet  welcome."  Christ 
plays  not  the  merchant  with  His  wares  :  He  makes 
no  gain,  but  cries,  The  well  is  free.  No,  says  the  Pope 
— not  a  drop  of  it,  till  ye  tell  dowoi  money.  That 
bloody  Beast  would  sell  the  w^ater  of  Rome  for  gold. 
As  meikle  money — as  meikle  grace  and  forgiveness. 
Want  ye  money?  (He  swears)  Ye  shall  not  come 
here.  Nothing  in  Rome  without  money.  Fie,  fie; 
the  stink  of  the  devil's  world.  Nay,  but  Christ  is 
for  nothing.  Nay,  justice  giveth, money,  and  officers 
give  money ;  it  is  a  dear  world.  But  Christ  and  His 
word  care  no  more  for  money  than  before.! 

Verse  7.  "  He  that  over  com  eth  shall  inherit  all 
things ;  a7id  I  will  be  his  God  and  he  shall  be  My 
son.:' 

*  Plated  apd  gilded,  f  Than  if  theie  were  no  Pope  and  world. 


244  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


1.  Alway  in  this  book  John  urgeth  "fighting"  and 
"overcoming"  for  heaven.  We  wonder  much  that 
God  will  not  have  poor  men  go  to  heaven  but  by 
fighting,  seeing  He  might  have  sent  us  to  heaven  by 
a  second  heaven.  But  this  is  but  a  thought  of  men, 
that  would  make  a  new  back-gate  of  their  own  to 
heaven.  God  advised  well  when  He  made  His  causey* 
to  it,  and  ordained  all  His  saints,  yea,  His  own  Son, 
to  go  that  way.  But  it  is  easier  for  us  to  complain  on 
God's  decree  than  to  obe}^,  and  to  dispute  than  believe. 
Men  have  too  thin  skins.  For  health,  they  will  cut 
a  vein,  or  let  a  leg  or  an  arm  be  cut  off  for  fear  of  a 
fester ;  and  yet  for  "  life  everlasting  "  they  are  so,  that 
they  dow  not  venture  a  moment's  pain. 

2.  There  are  excellent  promises  made  to  the  over- 
comers — to  him  that  taketh  heaven  with  stroke  of 
sword  and  blood.  For  heaven  is  a  besieged  city  or 
castle.  There  are  many  foes  to  fight  against.  Armies 
of  sin  with  all  their  armour,  and  the  deceiving  and 
malicious  world.  The  world  has  Eve's  apple  in  one 
hand,  and  fire  and  sword  in  the  other ;  and  the  devil 
is  the  captain  of  the  army.  Now,  here  is  a  prize  set, 
and  an  offer  made  to  him  that  overcometh — to  him 
that  will  mount  up  by  faith  and  hope,  and  leap  up 
into  Christ's  chariot,  and  betide  him  life,  betide  him 
death,  will  go  through.  But  they  are  cowards  that 
take  a  back-side,  and  let  the  devil  coupt  them  in  a 
gutter.  But  yet  to  lead  men  on,  here  is  a  promise, 
''  He  shall  inherit  all  things."  Ye  see  that  the  Chris- 
tians' Captain  is  a  man  of  a  fair  rent ;  ''for  all  things 
are  yours,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the 
world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to 
come,  all  are  yours"  (i  Cor.  iii.  21,  22).     And  to  let 

*  Causeway ;  good  road.  t  Upset. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


245 


US  see  He  bides*  by  the  thing  He  has  said,  He  says 
again,  *'  All  things  are  yours."  Yc  see  in  this  world 
one  has  a  kingdom,  as  Asa,  but  wants  health,  and  is 
sick  of  his  feet ;  he  has  not  all  things.  Another,  as 
Samson,  had  strength  of  body  above  any  living,  yet  he 
had  many  troubles  and  wanted  his  eyes ;  he  had  not 
all  things.  Oh,  the  business  Adam's  sons  are  at  for 
inheritances  !  Here  a  mailent — there  a  lairdship — 
there  a  new  lordship.  That  they  call  their  all  things. 
I  think  this  is  a  greedy  style,  and  proud-like  lordship 
or  lairdship.  Yet,  greedy  Adam's  sons  have  more 
greediness  here  than  wit.  They  run  all  upon  their 
lordships,  that  they  call  the  lordship  of  many  things. 
*' Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  troubled"  (Luke  x.  41). 
Worldlings,  ye  are  aye  careful  and  troubled  about 
this,  to  be  called  *^  My  lord"  of  many  things.  But 
we  shall  see  if  the  text  be  true. 

"/  am- Alpha  aiid  Omega^ — Ye  will  notice  that 
Paul  puts  in  "  death "  into  the  rent-roll.  I  think 
death  an  ill  mailen ;  better  want  it  out  of  the  charter. 
Nay,  but  death  is  also  a  part  of  the  lordship  this  way 
(because  it  is  "  My  lord  of  all  things"),  and  a  coach  to 
glory — Christ  Himself  being  the  coachman  and  driving 
the  horse.  Death  is  the  servant.  As  the  wind  serveth 
to  bring  the  seaman  home,  so  death  serveth  him  that 
hath  the  new  lordship.  Death  is  Christ's  ferry-boat  to 
carry  the  Christian  home,  for  in  Christ  he  sets  his  foot 
on  death's  neck.  It  is  a  bridge  over  the  river  of  hell 
that  he  walketh  on  to  heaven  ;  and  it  is  his.  The 
Christian  is  advanced  in  Christ's  court,  and  gets  the 
new  style  to  be  "  My  lord  of  all  things,"  the  prince, 
the  duke  of  all  things.  Yet  I  shall  get  you  a  lordship 
far  ^inferior,  but  much  sought   for — the   lordship   of 

*  Stands  by;  adheres  to.  t  A  farm. 


246  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


vanity  or  nothing.  "  Wilt  thou  set  thine  eyes  upon 
that  which  is  not ?"  He  that  is  rich  has  nought ;  "for 
riches  certainly  make  themselves  wings — they  fly  away 
as  an  eagle  towards  heaven  "  (Prov.  xxiii.  5). 

2.  Again,  if  the  Christian  "  inherits  all  ihings^^  the 
whole  world  is  his,  and  so  he  wanteth  nothing.  (Psalm 
Ixxxix.  25),  "I  will  set  his  hand  also  in  the  sea,  and 
his  right  hand  in  the  rivers."  Here  see  how  broad 
Christ's  two  arms  are.  His  one  hand  upon  all  the 
sea,  and  His  other  hand  upon  the  rivers.  And  that 
promise  is  made  to  Christ  as  principal  cautioner  of 
the  covenant;  for  it  is  said  (verse  26),  "He  shall  cry 
unto  Me,  Thou  art  My  Father,  My  God,  and  the  rock 
of  My  salvation."  Verse  27,  "Also,  I  will  make  Him 
My  first-born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth," 
which  is  exponed  of  Christ  (Heb.  i.  6).  Again,  in 
Rev.  x.  2,  He  has  "  His  right  foot  on  the  sea  and  His 
left  foot  on  the  earth."  Put  these  two  together,  and 
see  how  wide  His  arms  and  legs,  or  feet,  are.  They 
go  over  the  whole  world  as  His  inheritance,  which  He 
won  to  Himself,  and  His  heirs  after  Him,  with  His 
blood.  Now,  Christ  got  land  not  to  Himself.  What ! 
needed  He  land  ?  and  to  give  His  blood  for  clay  ? 
But  He  won  it  to  us,  and  took  infeftment  in  the  earth, 
in  the  name  of  His  friends;  so  that  in  Him  they  inherit 
"  all  things." 

3.  But  here  one  may  say,  "  How  is  it,  then,  that  the 
saints  are  hungry  and  poor  ?  Answer,  It  is  true,  they 
are  not  now  possessors  of  all  things.  But  minors' 
wants* — ye  see  their  interest  is  in  and  over  all  things, 
yet  their  tutor  lets  them  go  with  a  toomf  purse.  He 
knows  the  heir  is  a  young  one,  and  cannot  keep  gold, 

*  Take  the  case  of  those  under  age ;  they  are  often  poor, 
t  Empty. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  247 


and  therefore  he  gives  him  food  and  raiment  for  his 
present  necessity,  but  keeps  the  lordship  till  he  be 
able  to  guide  it.  Even  so  Christ  is  made  of  God,  our 
Tutor  and  Purse-Master.  It  is  all  one  whether  our 
wealth  be  in  our  chest-nook  or  if  it  be  in  Christ's 
purse,  to  keep  till  we  need  it,  providing  we  want  not. 

Another  question  and  doubt  is,  "  Seeing  they  are 
under  so  many  troubles  in  this  life,  and  have  no  ease, 
the  saints  have  not  '  all  things  ? '  I  answer.  Yes ; 
I  must  defend  it,  and  say,  if  they  have  the  inheritance^ 
they  have  all  things,  because  the  sweet  and  the  com- 
forts of  trouble  is  theirs. 

A  third  question  or  objection  is.  The  saints  have 
not  heaven  and  glory,  at  least,  in  this  life,  and  there- 
fore they  have  not  all  things.  I  answer,  i.  The 
promise  is  not  fulfilled  in  this  life.  Yet,  when  a  man 
has  shorn  a  stock  or  two  of  corn,  w^e  say  he  ''  has  got 
harvest  and  new  corn."  So  the  believer  gets  joy,  hope, 
faith,  assurance  of  heaven,  and  the  first-fruits  of  the 
Spirit.  These  are  a  foretaste  of  the  full  harvest  and 
new  com.  2.  Having  God  and  Christ,  the  saints 
have  all  things.  For  ye  see  the  great  ship  draggeth 
the  cock-boat  after  her,  so  the  great  Christ  bringeth 
all  things  after  Him  at  His  back.  So  I  say,  having 
Christ,  believers,  ye  have  all  things — ye  have  "the 
Father  and  the  Spirit,  the  word,  life,  and  death." 
Amen. 


SERMON        XI. 

driirist  and  the  ®otif.* 

Canticles  ii.  14,  17. 

IN  the  14th  verse,  there  is  (i)  a  style  given  to  the 
Kirk;  (2)  a  suit  made;  (3)  a  doubt  answered. 
In  the  15  th  verse,  a  new  doubt  is  answered,  and  a  suit 
made. 

He  calls  her  "His  dove."  He  rues  nothing  that 
He  said ;  He  bides  by  His  word  ;  He  calls  her  "  His 
love,  His  fair  one.  His  undefiled.''  He  avows  it, 
He  bides  by  it;  you  are  even  My  dove  :  yet  He  is  not 
flattering  her.  If  ye  be  Christ's,  He  will  give  you  all 
your  styles  of  honour ;  He  will  speak  much  good  of 
you,  both  behind  your  back  and  before  your  face. 

She  is  termed  Christ's  dove  : — First.  Because  the 
dove  is  a  fearful  bird,  and  soon  scared.  (Hosea 
xi.  II.),  '^  They  shall  tremble  like  a  dove  out  of 
Assyria."  Any  thing,  the  smallest  noise  or  din  that  can 
be,  frights  and  chases  these  timorous  birds  in  their 
dove-house,  into  Christ.  It  is  an  happy  rain  that 
chases  Christ's  doves  in   to   Himself.      For   all   the 


*  The  full  tide  is  :  "  Christ  and  the  Dove's  Heavenly  Saluta- 
tions, with  their  pleasant  conference  together ;  or  a  Sermon 
before  the  Communion  in  Anwoth,  1630.  By  that  flower  of  the 
Church,  Mr.  Samuel  Rutherford.       ' 


COMMUNIOy  SERMONS. 


249 


devil's  wit,  he  is  soon  beguiled ;  the  storm  that  arises 
against  the  ship  where  Christ  and  His  disciples  are 
makes  them  to  awaken  and  pray. 

Secondly.  The  dove  is  a  mournful  bird  ;  so  are  the 
doves  of  Christ  mourning,  and  in  tears.  (Ezek.  vii.  16.) 
"  They  that  escape  of  them  shall  be  on  the  mountains, 
like  doves  in  the  valleys,  all  of  them  mourning  :  every 
one  of  them  for  their  iniquities."  If  ye  be  God's  doves 
ye  will  have  many  a  sorrowful  day  in  the  world.  There 
are  bloody  wars  betwixt  the  Kirk  and  the  world.  Keep 
the  dove  from  the  nest,  and  she  mourns  without;  keep 
the  Kirk  from  Christ,  and  she  will  break  her  heart. 

Thirdly.  She  is  not  a  revengeful  bird  ;  she  has  no 
other  armour  against  the  ravens  and  vultures,  but  her 
wings  to  flee  away.  God's  children's  best  armour  when 
they  are  wronged  is,  by  faith  in  prayer  to  mount  up  to 
God.  They  must  be  like  Christ.  He  went  out  of  the 
world  with  many  a  wrong,  and  they  are  not  yet  re- 
venged. His  blood  is  keeping  to  the  last  court-day. 
Christ  sits^  with  many  a  wrong  in  heaven;  He  has  not 
gotten  amends  of  those  that  spat  in  His  face.  Many 
a  time  the  Kirk  and  her  Husband,  Christ,  will  be  here 
wronged,  albeit  it  be  seen  betwixt  them.  (Cant,  v.), 
She  shutst  Him  to  the  door,  and  lets  Him  lodge  all 
night  in  the  rainy  fields. 

And  then  I^ourtJily,  the  Kirk  is  like  a  dove  mourn- 
ing without  a  marrow  \%  for  that  fowl  cannot  want  a 
marrow.  If  ye  be  God's  doves,  woe  will  ye  be  when 
your  marrow,  Christ,  flies  away  :  she  falls  aswoon,  and 
her  heart  flies  out  of  her  when  Christ  flies  away. 

Fifthly.  The  dove  is  an  innocent,  harmless  bird ; 
she  cannot  offend.  So  is  the  Kirk ;  the  meek  spouse 
of  Christ  will  not  marrow  with  a  malicious  house. 

*  Puts  up  with  tears.  t  Thrusts.  X  Spouse;  match. 


250  C  O MM  UNI  ON  SERMONS. 


Sixthly.  The  dove  is  a  silly,  weak,  tender  fowl, 
and  if  they  be  compared  to  the  rest  of  the  birds,  they 
are  but  counted  the  tenth  of  flying  fowls.  Surely 
God's  Kirk  in  herself  is  but  a  weak  bird  and  tender 
woman,  compared  in  Rev.  xii.  to  a  woman  with  child 
lately  delivered,  and  little  betwixt  her  death  and  her 
life,  if  she  be  not  carefully  attended.  A  Christian  is 
a  tender  thing ;  a  jewel  in  the  hand  of  Christ.  If  He 
let  us  fall  we  are  soon  broken  in  pieces.  We  should 
pray  that  Christ  may  handle  us  softly,  and  not  let  us 
be  tempted  above  our  strength.  The  Kirk  is  called 
(Micah  iv.  6)  a  cripple  woman  that  goes  only  upon  her 
one  side.  So  surely  we  had  need  to  come  out  of  the 
wilderness  leaning  on  our  Beloved  (Cant.  viii.  5). 

Sei'efithly.  And  for  their  number  they  are  but  an 
handful  (Isaiah  vi.  13).  The  tithe  or  remnant,  God's 
part,  is  but  the  tenth,  and  the  devil  has  all  the  stock ; 
often  God  has  one,  and  the  devil  nine;  great  need 
have  we  to  labour  to  be  of  God's  tenth. 

"  My  dove  that  dwells  in  the  holes  of  the  rockJ^ — We 
need  not  to  go  far  off  to  seek  the  exposition  of  these 
words,  for  Christ  is  the  rock  upon  which  the  Kirk  is 
builded.  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  "Upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
My  Church,"  says  Christ.  And  (Psalm  xviii.  2),  "The 
Lord  is  my  rock,  and  My  fortress."  And  God  is  also 
^^  the  secret  place  of  the  stairs, ^^  where  the  Kirk  hides  her 
from  the  storm.  So  David  calls  God  his  Secret  Place, 
his  Hiding  Place  (Psalm  xxxii.  7).  Thou  art  a  Secret 
Place  to  me  from  distress ;  Thou  wilt  preserve  me 
(Psalm  xci.)  And  because  in  all  this  song  we  must 
ever  hold  up  the  line  and  string  of  the  allegory  of 
marriage,  and  consider  the  Kirk  as  the  spouse  of 
Christ,  the  Rock  is  Christ ;  in  whom  the  Kirk  dwells 
by  faith,  and  Christ  dwells  in  her  heart  (Eph.  iii.  17). 
"Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you  "  (John  xv.  4).     Abide  in 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  251 


Me,  as  branches  imped*  into  the  vine.  Now  the 
imp  is  ingrafted  in  a  cutted  stock;  Christ  was 
haggedjt  hewed,  and  cut  on  the  cross,  the  stock 
wherein  we  are  ingrafted.  So  that  the  holes  of  the 
rock  may  well  be  exponed  (as  Bernard  says)  to  be  the 
wounds  of  Christ.  So  that  the  meaning  is,  O  my  dove, 
that  by  faith  has  thy  abode  in  the  wounds  and  the 
holes  made  in  the  hands  and  sides  of  crucified  Jesus  : 
or,  O  my  dove,  that  believes,  and  that  by  faith  has  thy 
abode  in  the  wounds,  and  abides  in  Christ  as  an  imp 
ingrafted  in  a  tree,  in  Christ,  who  died.  And  so,  man, 
flee  into  Christ  all  wounded,  and  holed  J  for  thy  sin,  flee 
into  Christ,  thy  Rock ;  and  so  into  God  (Psalms  xviii. 
2).  Hence  we  see  what  a  Saviour  the  Kirk  believes 
in ;  a  Saviour  that's  God  and  man ;  as  man  to  be  a^ 
sufferer,  and  as  God  to  be  a  supporter.  There  was' 
great  necessity  of  these  two  natures.  God  would  not 
seek  payment  of  our  debt  off  His  Son  as  God  ;  for  by 
the  law  He  could  not  answer,  for  He  was  the  creditor, 
and  so  could  not  be  the  debtor.  And  therefore,  for 
the  better  understanding  of  this,  I  would  have  you 
with  me  to  consider  how  our  nature,  and  God's  nature, 
work  to  other's  hands  in  the  work  of  our  redemption. 
A  sinner  cannot  dwell  in  Christ  as  God  only.  There 
is  no  hole  nor  chamber  for  a  sinner  to  dwell  in  God ; 
and  therefore  Christ  behoved  to  be  man,  that  we  might 
find  fair  chambers  in  the  wounds  of  Jesus,  wherein  the 
doves  of  Jesus  might  dwell.  And  if  He  had  been 
only  man.  He  could  not  have  been  an  House  upon  a 
Rock,  and  so  could  not  have  borne  the  weight  of  all 
the  doves.  But  there  be  some  questions  in  the  work 
of  our  redemption  that  only  man  can  answer.  Man 
has  sinned,  and  man  must  die,  says  God's  justice.    Be 


*  Graft;  inserted.         t  Hackei  X  Full  of  gashes. 


252  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


it  so,  says  Christ ;  Man  sinned,  and  I,  the  Man,  Christ, 
shall  die.  2.  Man  took  on  the  debt,  therefore  another 
cannot  pay  for  him.  Be  it  so,  says  Christ ;  I,  the  Man, 
shall  pay  the  ransom.  3.  Man  behoved  to  make 
amends,  because  man  did  the  fault.  Let  it  be  so,  said 
Christ ;  I,  the  Man,  Christ,  shall  make  amends  again. 
Secondly.  If  Christ  had  not  been  our  Rock,  there 
had  been  nu  dwelling  in  Him,  He  would  not  have 
keeped  wind  and  weather  off  us.  Therefore,  the 
Divine  nature  w^as  a  pillar  on  which  the  human  nature 
did  hang,  and  this  is  the  cause  why  Christ-man  leans 
to  the  Divine  nature,  as  His  warrant  in  all  that  He 
does.  For  if  ye  will  consider  in  this  work,  there  are 
three  bargains,  or  covenants,  so  to  speak. 

a.  God  and  man  bargained  together;  ye  shall 
believe,  that's  your  part.  I  shall  give  you  live  eternal, 
that's  My  part,  says  God.  Now  man  dare  not  promise 
this  of  himself  without  Christ's  bond  to  reHeve  him, 
that  is  to  enable  him  through  His  grace  to  believe. 

b.  God  bargains  with  His  Son  (Isaiah  liii.  10), 
Son,  if  Thou  shall  lay  down  Thy  life.  Thou  shall  see 
Thy  seed,  and  prolong  Thy  days,  and  have  many 
fair  children.  (Psalm  ii.).  Ye  shall  have  the  heathen 
to  serve  you.  (Heb.  i.),  I  will  be  Your  Father,  and 
Ye  shall  be  My  Son.  Christ  is  content,  but  He  can- 
not do  this  alone ;  He  must  borrow  flesh  and  blood 
from  man,  and  in  it  suffer. 

c.  The  Man,  Christ,  bargains  with  the  Divine 
nature.  The  human  nature  says,  I  love  man,  and-  I 
will  die  for  him  :  the  Divine  nature  says,  now  I  shall 
hold  Thee  up  under  Thy  sufferings,  and  Thou  shall 
overcome  death.  The  Man,  Christ,  without  the  back- 
bond'^ (to  speak  so)  durst  not  for  ten  thousand  worlds 

*  Declaring  the  person  free  from  the  former  bond. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


253 


have  ventured  to  yoke*'  in  the  fields  with  the  justice 
of  God,  and  death,  and  hell,  and  sin,  and  the  devil — 
except  He  had  the  Divine  nature  in  a  personal  union 
to  bear  Him  up  under  His  sufferings.  Therefore 
Christ,  when  He  looks  upon  His  sufferings,  looks 
also  upon  His  warrant.  (Isaiah  1.  6),  *^  I  gave  My 
back  to  the  smiters,  and  My  cheeks  to  them  that 
plucked  off  the  hair."  These  be  the  words  of  the  Man, 
Christ. 

Now,  it  might  have  been  said,  A  man  will  suffer  all 
that  his  alone  ;t  but  here  He  looks  to  His  warrant 
(verse  7)  and  says,  I  have  My  warrant  with  Me,  "the 
Lord  God  will  help  Afe,  J  shall  not  be  confotmded.^^  I 
have  God's  warrant,  who  is  united  to  Me  in  a  personal 
union  to  bear  Me  up.  Even  sick-like |  Christ  goes 
down  to  the  grave.  (Psalm  xvi.  10),  *'Thou  wilt 
not  leave  My  soul  in  hell  (or  the  grave),  neither  wilt 
Thou  suffer  Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  As  if 
Christ  would  say ;  I  am  sure,  O  Lord,  Thou  will  be  as 
good  as  Thy  word,  and  make  good  Thy  bargain,  and 
>vill  warrant  Me  against  death.  See  then  how  it  goes; 
the  Man,  Christ,  takes  man  by  the  hand  to  bring  him 
out  from  under  God's  \vrath.  So,  beloved,  be  glad  in 
such  a  Saviour;  come  all  into  the  Rock,  for  God, 
Christ,  and  man,  all  these  three  are  linked  together  as 
in  a  chain,  and  Christ  in  the  middle  link  of  the  chain. 
Kow,  let  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  that  boast  of  fair 
houses  and  stately  palaces,  come  and  see  if  they  can 
compare  with  the  dove  that  dwells  in  the  holes  of 
the  Rock.  Nebuchadnezzar  said.  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon  that  I  have  built?  Surely  men  are  to  be 
rebuked  that  are  careful  for  houses  and  settling  in  the 
world,  and  has  no  assurance  of  this  lodging.     AVorld- 

*  Engage  with.         f  By  himself.        %  In  such  a  manner. 


254 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


lings  are  but  ravens  that  big*  in  the  wild  mountains. 
The  Kirk  is  only  at  home  bigging  in  faith.  These  be 
indeed  dear  chambers,  being  built  by  Christ  Himself. 
God  has  made  holes  and  windows  in  Christ  that  His 
doves  may  flee  into,  and  make  their  nest  in  His  heart. 
O  dear  and  precious  dwelling !  the  lodging  cost  us 
nothing,  yet  we  are  desired  to  dwell  in  it. 

Now  what  is  Christ's  petition  ?  "  Cause  Me  to  hear 
thy  voice J^  Its  ordinary  for  man  to  beg  from  God,  for 
we  be  but  His  beggars ;  but  it  is  a  miracle  to  see  God 
beg  at  man.  Yet  here  is  the  Potter  begging  from  the 
clay ;  the  Saviour  seeking  from  sinners  !  What  is  His 
suit  ?  It  must  be  some  great  thing ;  it  is  even  a  sight 
of  His  bride.  He  is  even  saying  to  her.  My  deai 
spouse,  be  kind  to  Me,  let  Me  see  thy  face,  be  not 
blaitet  and  wavering;  be  plam  with  Me,  your  Hus- 
band, tell  Me  all  your  mind  in  prayer.  I  dehght  to 
hear  your  lisping  and  hisping,  and  speaking  to  Me 
in  prayer.  Ye  may  see  all  the  wooing  comes  on 
Christ's  side  of  it ;  she  cannot  hold  up  her  face,  or  let 
one  love-blink  on  Christ,  but  as  He  commands  her, 
and  wakens  her  up.  She  is  a  sour  bride  of  herself :  if 
she  laugh,  it  is  He  that  makes  her  rejoice  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  that  is  given  to  her  (Romans  v.  5).  She  keeps  her 
chamber  and  is  ashamed  to  go  forth ;  He  bids  her  be 
kind  and  shew  her  face.  We  cannot  love  Him  till  He 
first  love  us  (i  John  iv.  19).  We  run  because  He 
draws  us  (Cant.  i.  4).  (John  vi.  44),  We  apprehend 
Christ,  but  we  are  first  gripped  of  Him  (Phil.  iii.  12). 
Beloved,  there  is  great  skill  in  wooing  Christ,  every 
bride  has  not  the  gate  J  of  it,  but  He  must  teach  us. 

In  all  other  matches  ye  will  find  two  things  that  are 
not  here,     a.  In  other  matches  the  bride  makes  some 

*  Build.  t  Shy.  X  Right  way. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  255 


wooing  of  her  own  sort ;  but  here  men  cannot  move 
but  as  Christ's  Spirit  woos  in  us,  and  teaches  us.  b.  In 
other  contracts  the  bride  and  her  friends  are  bound  for 
their  part,  the  bride  has  some  tocher"  of  her  own,  or  she 
may  be  an  heretrix,t  she  may  have  all  and  he  nothing. 
But  here  the  bridegroom  in  this  contract  is  obhged  for 
all,  He  gives  His  name  for  Himself  and  His  wife. 
(Ezek.  xxxvi.  27),  ^^I  will  put  My  Spirit  in  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  My  judgments/'  Here  the  Kirk 
has  no  tocher  of  her  own,  and  yet  she  has  not  the  good 
manners  to  look  up  to  her  Lord,  but  as  He  commands 
and  holds  up  her  head  :  all  the  tocher  is  Christ's,  and 
the  inheritance  is  Christ's ;  the  Kirk  has  nothing.  He 
has  the  houses  (John  xiv.  2).  He  has  the  land  (Rom. 
viii.  17).  He  has  the  fine  gold  (Rev.  iii.  18),  and  buys 
the  spouse  the  clothes  of  the  religion  that  came  in  with 
her  Saviour,  Christ,  and  that  is  the  best  religion  in  the 
world ;  for  it  gives  most  to  God  and  least  to  man.  I 
will  tell  you  who  are  meet  for  Christ,  even  those  that 
are  out  of  themselves,  and  lays  all  upon  Christ.  The 
best  scholars  that  Christ  gets  are  publicans  and  sin- 
ners, harlots,  blind,  lame,  cripples,  and  such  like,  and 
such  as  feel  themselves  sinners.  Look,  how  much 
you  trust  in  yourselves,  and  rest  upon  the  world,  and 
love  your  lusts,  as  far  ye  are  from  Christ.  And  when 
ye  are  all  out  of  yourselves  and  changed  into  God's 
image  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
(2  Cor.  iii.  18),  then  ye  are  meet  for  Christ,  begging 
poor  sinners  are  our  Lord's  scholars.  The  lintel-stone 
of  our  Lord's  school-door  is  a  low  stone,  ye  must  stoop 
low  and  lout.  J  Ye  will  be  on  your  knees  with  it  or 
ye§  can  win  in;  ye  must  be  very  humble,  else  that 
stone  will  take  your  head  and  ding  you  back,  and  ye 

*  Dowry,  f  Heiress.  %  Bend  down.  §  Before  you  can  get  in. 


256  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


will  not  win  in.  Then  be  fools  that  Christ  may  be 
your  wisdom  (i  Cor.  i.  30).  There  is  as  much  merit 
in  Christ  as  will  buy  a  thousand  heavens.  Now  if  our 
wooer;  Christ,  were  not  kind,  and  sought  our  kind- 
ness (even  words  of  us),  and  brought  love-tokens,  the 
friendship  betwixt  Christ  and  us  would  soon  wear  out 
of  date,  and  grow  cold.  Christ  aye  blows  at  the  coal 
ere  it  wear  out :  Christ  would  win  a  friend,  yea  a  foe, 
to  be  kind  to  Him.  He  is  aye  threaping^  and  claim- 
ing kindness  of  us,  as  if  He  were  the  beggar  and  the 
poor  man,  and  we  the  king.  O,  He  claims  kindness 
to  us  :  then  surely  we  need  not  think  shame  of  our 
Friend.  Would  ye  ken  for  whom  Christ  died,  and 
prayed  ?  even  for  dyvours,  such  as  swore  themselves 
bare,t  and  came  out  of  prison  upon  caution,  or  a  cessio 
bonorum.X  Poor  men  that  have  been  upon  the  dyvours- 
stone,  and  are  far  from  payment  by  the  dyvour  bill, 
when  there  is  not  a  finger  in  all  your  hand  fastened 
upon  yourself,  then  ye  are  meet  for  Christ.  For  who 
are  better  met  and  yoked  than  a  poor,  sick,  dying  man 
and  a  skilful  physician;  who  is  better  yoked  than  a 
crying,  begging  sinner,  and  a  rich  Christ  ?  But  oh  it 
is  oftimes  not  so  !  for  Christ  would  give  us  more  nor§ 
we  will  receive.  He  scatters  His  gold;  we  proud 
beggars  will  not  bow  our  back,  and  lout  down  and 
gather.  He  would  fain  sell,  we  will  not  buy ;  so  there 
will  be  no  blocking. 

Let  Me  see  thy  coimtenance. — An  allusion  to  Israel, 
that  was  to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord  thrice 
a  year  in  the  tabernacle  ;  the  meaning  is.  Walk  before 
Me.     It  is  not  enough  that  thou  beheve,  and  so  dwell 


*  Insisting  on ;  pressing. 

t  Declared  on  oath  that  they  kept  nothing. 

X  Giving  up  all  they  had.        §  Than. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


257 


by  faith  in  the  holes  of  the  Rock ;  but  thou  must  also 
shew  thy  faith  by  good  works  and  prayers,  and  wor- 
shipping of  God.  Christ  loves  not  professors  that 
never  wan*  to  love  to  pray,  and  such  as  hate  not  the 
world.  But  you  will  see  they  are  believers  by  their 
holy  living  (Matt.  xiii.  23).  The  word  of  God  is  seed 
sown  that  brings  forth  thirty,  sixty,  and  an  hundred 
fold.  Ilkf  boll  brings  out  thirty ;  ilk  sermon,  ilk  Com- 
munion should  bring  out  an  hundred  good  works. 
Beloved,  God's  land  is  set  at  an  high  price ;  He  is  a 
Master  that  will  have  all  His  own  from  His  tenants  \ 
and  as  the  Song  says  (chap.  iv.  2),  Every  one  of  God's 
sheep  brings  out  twins.  There  is  a  ground  that  drinks 
in  rain  from  heaven,  and  yet  brings  forth  briers  and 
thorns,  it  is  near  a  curse.  Bring  forth  fruit,  or  else  ye 
will  make  God  say,  My  curse  and  God's  malison  be 
upon  thy  heart,  thou  hearest  much,  and  bringest  forth 
no  fruit.  Therefore  beware ;  a  tree  that  once  gets  a 
daddj  with  God's  axe,  it  will  never  do  well  again.  Ye 
shall  become  like  the  girdle  (Jer.  xiii.  17)  which  the 
prophet  did  hide  at  the  river  Euphrates ;  it  was  pro- 
fitable for  nothing,  it  was  marred,  it  shall  never  go  about 
God's  waste  again.  Beware,  then,  that  ye  be  not  blasted 
professors  and  fruitless  Christians ;  but  be  ye  always 
in  His  sight.  For  there  be  some  that  come  never  in 
God's  sight,  they  are  God's  dyvours  :  they  are  aught- 
ing§  so  much  that  they  dare  not  come  to  God,  and 
comptll  and  pay — outlaws  and  borderers  that  come 
not,  or  keep  not  Christ's  kingdom,  but  run  like  wild 
asses  and  dromedaries  up  and  down  the  mountains, 
and  snuff  up  the  wind  at  their  pleasure.  I  compare 
their  life  to  those  that  j:de  post.     Many  a  horse  has 

*  Got  the  length  of  loving  to  pray.  t  Each  ;  every. 

X  Knock.  §  Owing.  |1  Reckon. 

R 


258  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Satan  in  his  stable;  and  when  these  outlaws  have 
wearied  in  their  greediness  after  sin,  and  have  gotten 
they  know  not  what,  they  mount  upon  a  fresh  horse, 
some  upon  pride  !  and  if  they  ride  once  out  of  God's 
sight,  they  run  till  they  be  in  hell  in  the  end  :  for  the 
devil  is  upon  the  horse  and  the  rider.  God  seeks 
dear,  and  for  His  money  ye  must  give  Him  more  than 
ten  in  the  hundred  :  for  five  talents,  He  must  have  ten 
again ;  He  must  have  double  stock.  Look  what  grace 
ye  receive  by  weight ;  render  to  Him  His  own  in  weight 
and  more  :  if  His  gold  want  an  ounce.  He  will  cast  it 
to  you  again  :  for  one  boll's  sowing  ye  must  give  Him 
thirty  again.  God  would  have  His  servants  aye  keep- 
ing His  chamber;  if  they  go  their  own  length  from 
Him,  He  misses  them.  Ye  must  not  be  God's  cham- 
ber pages,  and  steal  out  of  His  presence,  and  give  the 
devil  a  baggage-yoking.*  Nay,  He  must  aye  see  your 
face,  and  hear  your  voice.  There  be  many  that  would 
serve  God,  and  be  in  Christ's  school;  but  they  are  like 
souls  that  take  the  play,  and  run  to  play,  sometimes 
with  the  world,  and  the  devil,  and  love  to  sport  them- 
selves with  the  world  and  the  devil.  But  God's  scholars 
may  not  take  the  play. 

"  Let  Me  see  thy  facc.^^ — The  Kirk  might  have  said, 
Dear  Lord,  my  face  !  Oh  dost  Thou  desire  to  see  my 
face,  it  is  very  black,  I  am  sun-burnt,  sin  hath  made 
me  deformed ;  and  for  my  voice  it  is  both  harsh  and 
mistuned.  What  then  says  Christ  ?  I  think  not  so. 
My  dear  spouse ;  I  think  it  is  a  fair  face.  I  think  ye 
have  a  sweet  voice.  It  is  great  comfort  for  God's 
children  when  they  rise  many  times  off  their  knees 
from  prayer  with  a  woe  heart,t  thinking,  because  they 
have  no  heart,  nor  feeling,  nor  sense,  that  God  is 

■  A  help  ill  his  work.  t  Sad. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


259 


offended  with  their  prayers,  and  thinks  little  of  their 
works  ;  when  as  their  prayers,  and  tears,  and  works 
are  accepted  before  God.  Ye  think  nothing  of  one 
tear,  yet  God  puts  it  in  His  bottle ;  and  nothing  of 
one  sigh,  but  God  gathers  it  in  His  treasure.  If  God 
thought  of  us  as  the  world  does,  and  as  we  think  of 
ourselves,  oftentimes  woeful  would  our  case  be ;  but 
God  has  not  a  pleasanter  sight  in  the  world  than  the 
face  of  a  child  of  God.  No  music  delights  Him  more 
nor  the  sighs  and  tears,  complaints  and  prayers  ot  His 
children.  See  ye  not  the  Spirit  of  God  bringing  in 
Christ,  longing  for  a  sight  of  His  wife,  longing  for  a 
word  of  her  (Prov.  viii.  31).  Christ  rejoiceth,  and 
sports,  and  plays  in  the  habitable  parts  of  the  earth, 
and  His  delight  is  with  the  sons  of  men.  Ye  will  see 
more  of  this  upon  the  last  words  of  this  Song. 

"  Take  lis  thefoxes^ — Its  a  speech  of  Christ  to  the 
Kirk,  to  take,  convince,  censure,  rebuke,  cut  off,  and 
excommunicate  all  inordinate  livers  and  offenders  in 
the  Lord's  vineyard  (Ezek.  xiii.  4).  O  Israel,  thy 
prophets  are  like  foxes  in  the  deserts  (Jer.  xii.  10). 
Many  pastors  have  corrupted  My  vineyard.  O  what 
can  there  be  upon  the  earth  to  make  a  Kirk  happy, 
but  it  is  here.  To  hear  a  Kirk  sick  of  love  for  Christ, 
and  hear  Christ  sick  of  love  for  His  Kirk  :  Christ's 
left  hand  is  under  her  head,  and  His  right  hand  doth 
embrace  her :  she  is  His  fair  one.  His  love,  His  dove. 
His  undefiled.  She  dwells  in  the  wounds  of  her  Lord 
by  faith.  Yet  for  all  this,  His  Kirk  is  a  vineyard  that 
has  many  foxes  in  it  to  destroy  the  vines ;  so  that  we 
see,  so  long  as  God  hath  a  vineyard  there  will  be  foxes 
in  it  to  destroy  the  vines ;  that  is,  crafty  men,  false 
teachers,  deceitful  workers,  transforming  themselves 
into  the  apostles  of  Christ  (2  Cor.  i.  13).  Paul  planted 
a   Church  in   Ephesus   (Acts   xx.  28),  yet   after   his 


2  6o  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


departure,  grievous  wolves  entered  in,  not  sparing  the 
flock.  Surely  in  this  life  marches  are  not  redd  betwixt 
God  and  the  devil;  the  devil  files  the  score*  and 
comes  over  the  march  upon  God's  bounds  (Matt, 
xiii.)  God  sows  His  wheat,  and  the  devil  steals  up 
the  rigg,  and  with  hot  furf  he  sows  his  tares  (i  Kings 
xxii.)  In  Achab's  court  there  is  never  an  honest 
man.  Till  he  be  tried,  the  false  knave  and  truth 
are  door  neighbours,  (i  Kings  xxii.).  In  Achab's 
court  there  is  an  honest  man  that  tells  the  king  the 
truth ;  but  there  are  four  hundred  false  knaves  that 
say  against  him,  and,  poor  man,  he  must  to  prison,  and 
they  get  leave  to  keep  the  court.  For  the  thief  is  ever 
the  honest  man  till  he  be  tried ;  the  false  knave  and 
the  truth  are  door  neighbours,  and  almost  twins  born 
at  one  time;  howbeit  truth  be  eldest  and  first-born. 
Isaiah  complains  (chapter  Ivi.  2)  of  dumb  dogs  that 
could  never  have  enough.  In  Jeremiah  x..  He  complains 
of  many  pastors  that  corrupted  the  vineyard.  Ezekiel 
complains  of  foxes.  Zachariah  (xi.)  of  idol  shepherds. 
Hymenoeus  and  Philetus  spoke  against  Paul.  The 
Sadducees  in  Christ's  days  denied  the  resurrection. 
And  not  only  are  there  false  teachers  in  our  days,  but 
in  the  best  kirks  were,  and  are  many  foxes ;  for  all  is 
not  fish  that  comes  in  the  net.  And  if  ye  be  God's 
sheep,  ye  must  not  think  to  want  foxes  to  nibble,  and 
to  work  under  the  earth  to  destroy  you.  Ye  may  not 
lookt  that  Christ  is  Master  of  the  fields  without  blood. 
Ye  will  not  be  long  in  prosperity  in  the  world.  There 
be  a  number  of  foolish  people  wonders  that  God  brings 
such  a  good  Husband  that  should  not  hold  out  the 
foxes  from  His  own  vineyard.     They  would  have  a 

*  Erases  the  line.  +  When  the  furrow  is  new  ploughed. 

X  Expect  to  find. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  261 


Christ  of  gold,  and  a  Kirk  of  velvet,  or  of  fair  white 
paper.  They  think  Christ's  bride  should  be  clad  in 
purple  and  scarlet,  as  the  whore  of  Rome  is,  or  does 
wear. 

I  will  show  you  how  Christ  and  His  Kirk  meet. 
When  the  bridegroom  wooed  His  Kirk,  many  a  black 
stroke  got  He  both  of  God  and  man.  He  was  the 
Vine,  God  and  man  strake  at  Him  with  axes  !  He 
bought  her  dear ;  it  cost  Him  blood  ere  He  got  her. 
And  think  ye  she  has  fair  weather  when  she  woos 
Him  ?  Nay,  many  a  cuff"'  gets  she  from  the  world ; 
this  fox  and  that  fox  pulls  the  skin  off  her.  She  is 
hardly  handled  in  this  wooing,  there  be  strokes  on 
both  sides  :  for  fain  would  the  devil  have  the  contract 
cancelled,  and  the  marriage  going  back.  And  let  me 
speak  to  you  that  are  God's  young  vine ;  make  you 
for  it,t  the  foxes  of  the  world  will  peel  the  bark  off  you. 
If  there  be  grace  in  you,  they  will  do  what  they  can 
to  eat  it  up  in  the  bud.  Hold  your  hands  about  the 
grace  of  God,  be  not  robbed ;  if  ye  give  them  their 
will,  they  would  pull  the  skin  off  your  face. 

Ye  see  Christ  hath  gotten  out  letters  of  caption,? 
against  all  His  foxes.  Here  is  a  commission  obtained 
in  Christ's  court,  that  all  that  hurts  Christ's  vineyard 
should  be  apprehended  and  laid  fast !  but  alas  !  the 
commissioners,  the  pastors,  the  judges,  over-see§  them. 
But  here  a  comfort  for  you,  who  are  the  Lord^s  vines, 
that  are  troubled  with  foxes.  I  assure  you,  that  the 
Kirk  has  law  against  all  her  enemies.  Be  not  casten 
down,  because  the  world  hates  you ;  twenty-six  hun- 
dred years  syne,  Christ  hath  given  out  a  decreet 
against  all  His  enemies,  and  yours,  to  take    them. 

*  Blow  with  the  hand.  t  Lay  your  account  with  this. 

X  For  legally  apprehending  the  person.  §  Overlook. 


262  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Here  ye  have  assurance ;  your  enemies  are  rebels,  and 
all  of  them  under  caption.  (Psalms  ex.  6),  "  He  shall 
fill  the  places  with  dead  bodies.  He  shall  wound  the 
head  over  them,  even  in  many  countries."  Ye  that 
complain  of  your  predominant  sins,  and  think  ye  are 
hardened  with  them  (for  these  also  be  foxes  that  do 
harm  the  Lord's  vineyard),  fight  against  them,  for 
Christ  has  given  out  a  decreet  against  those  that  they 
shall  be  taken. 

"  My  beloved  zs  inineP — These  be  the  words  of  the 
contract  of  marriage ;  for  there  is  a  covenant  betwixt 
Christ  and  His  Kirk  (Ezekiel  xxxvi.  26),  "I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  My  people."  But  here  there  is 
a  doubt  to  be  answered  by  these  words :  it  would  seem 
Christ  and  His  Kirk  are  two  different  parties  in  the 
contract,  Christ  upon  the  one  side,  and  the  Kirk 
upon  the  other.  Is  not  Christ  upon  the  Kirk's  side, 
and  obliges  for  His  wife?  I  answer;  Christ,  having 
two  natures,  has  two  contrary  considerations.  He  is 
one  party,  and  we  another ;  and  so  He  promises  to  us 
life  eternal,  and  we  promise  by  His  grace  to  believe. 

Christ  is  considered  as  Mediator,  God  and  man, 
and  so  He  is  upon  our  side ;  for  the  promise  is  made 
to  Him  and  His;  and  He,  as  principal  contractor, 
binds  for  us,  and  we  are  His  assignees.  So  Jesus 
skips  betwixt  both  the  sides,  because  He  is  a  friend  to 
both.  But  it  is  certain  these  very  words  proves  Him 
to  be  on  our  side  of  the  covenant,  because  our  Beloved 
is  ours,  and  we  are  His;  He  is  our  Mediator,  and 
Cautioner  bound  for  us.  The  very  words  of  the  cove- 
nant are  spoken  to  Christ  (Psalm  Ixxxix.  27),  ^^  I  will 
make  Him  My  first-born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the 
earth  :"  and  He  said  (verse  26),  "He  shall  cry  to  Me, 
Thou  art  My  Father,  My  God,  and  the  Rock  of  My 
salvation;  My  mercy  will  I  keep  for  Him  for  evermore, 


COMMUNJON  SERMONS,  263 


and  My  covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  Him."  The 
enemies  of  grace  would  have  Christ  a  God  folding  His 
fingers,  and  a  looker-on,  and  beliolding  fair  play.  Liars ! 
He  is  more  than  half  play-Master  !  The  devil  will  not 
get  His  name  out  of  the  contract ;  and,  beloved,  see 
ye  not  but  it  is  a  sweet  thing  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  Christ.  His  chaff  is  better  than  other  men's 
corn ;  if  ye  have  any  fastening*  with  Christ,  the  cause 
is  won.  Now  hold  you  by  Christ.  It  is  a  shame  for 
Him  that  ye  fall  out  of  the  covenant,  because  He  is  a 
Cautioner.  As  ye  know,  it  is  a  shame  for  a  nobleman 
that  his  poor  friend  be  cast  in  prison  for  the  debt  that 
he  is  obliged  to  pay.  Christ  is  naw  obliged  that  He 
fulfil  the  covenant,  and  make  good  both  your  part,  and 
Jiis  part.  Boast  not  of  yourselves,  or  of  your  own 
strength:  be  not  proud  of  yourselves,  but  ye  shall 
have  full  liberty  to  boast  yourself  of  Christ.  Crackf 
enough  of  Christ ;  be  proud  of  Christ's  merits,  ye  can- 
not err  there.  The  debt  of  faith  and  obedience  that 
we  are  aughtingj  to  God  now  (to  speak  so),  is  not  our 
debt  but  Christ's,  and  He  is  Cautioner  for  us.  It  were 
a  shame  that  a  poor  friend  should  be  imprisoned  for 
his  chiefs  debt,  especially  since  He  is  a  rich  man  and 
able  to  pay. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  mutual  interest  Christ  and 
the  Kirk  has  every  one  of  another ;  ''  He  is  mine,  and 
I  am  His ;"  He  is  my  Husband,  and  I  am  His  wife ; 
He  is  my  head,  and  I  am  His  body  :  He  is  my  King, 
and  I  am  His  people ;  He  is  my  rich  Cautioner,  and 
I  am  His  dyvour.  I^et  us  see  what  claim  Christ  has 
in  the  Kirk,  and  what  claim  the  Kirk  has  in  Christ. 
Now,  to  liold§  upon  the  comparison  of  this  song  betwixt 
a  husband  and  a  wife.    The  husband  and  the  wife  have 

*  Sure  connection,     t  Speak  often.     %  Owing.    §  Continue. 


264  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


no  sundry"  goods ;  if  he  be  a  king,  she  is  a  queen ;  if 
he  have  a  fair  inheritance,  it  is  hers  also,  as  long  as 
she  lives  j  if  they  live  ever  together,  it  is  ever  hers. 
Then  when  she  says.  He  is  mine,  I  am  His,  Christ  is 
mine,  and  I  am  His,  and  all  His,  His  flesh  and  His 
blood ;  His  death  and  merits ;  His  glory ;  His  king- 
dom ;  His  court  and  credit,  and  all  is  mine ;  and  all 
mine  is  His,  my  soul  and  body,  my  sins,  my  trouble, 
my  cross,  they  are  all  His.  Christ  and  she  are  (to 
speak  so)  carded  through  other.  (John  xv.),  "Abide  in 
Me,  and  I  in  you."  Cursed  be  he  that  says  not  amen 
to  that.  (John  xvii.  21),  ''  That  they  also  may  be  one, 
as  Thou,  Father,  are  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us ;  I  in  them,  and  they  in  Me." 
But  v/e  will  labour  to  reduce  them,  the  particulars  to 
a  certain  number.  There  be  these  things  common  to 
us  betwixt  Christ  and  us. 

I.  There  is  a  sibnessf  of  nature  betwixt  Christ  and 
us.  There  be  pawns  given  and  received  betwixt  both 
sides.  He  has  a  pawn  of  ours,  our  flesh,  and  He  took 
that  pawn  with  Him  to  heaven,  and  He  is  never 
minded  to  give  it  again.  But  we  have  as  good  a  pawn 
of  Him,  His  Spirit.  We  were  of  that  flesh  and  blood 
(Heb.  ii.  14).  Let  us  keep  Christ's  pawn,  as  long  as 
He  keeps  ours ;  let  Him  not  be  to  the  forej  with  us. 
Now  He  keeps  our  pawn  for  ever ;  He  will  never  lay 
do^vn  our  flesh;  we  are  never  minded  to  lose  the 
pawn,  let  Him  keep  it  for  ever ;  long  may  He  keep  it. 
Let  us  keep  His  Spirit ;  for  it  is  not  His  will  to  loose 
that  pawn ;  let  Him  keep  it  for  ever  (Heb.  iv.  2). 
Christ  would  also  be  a  bairn  and  partaker  of  flesh  and 
blood.  Would  to  God  ye  would  all  strive  to  get  His 
pawn,  and  to  keep  it  well ;  seek  His  Spirit,  and  keep 

*  Separate.         t  Relationship.        J  Get  beyond  us. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  265 


it  well.  Worldly  men,  ye  have  little  claim  to  Jesus ; 
God  help  you,  there  is  no  borrowing  nor  lending  be- 
twixt you  and  Christ. 

2.  There  is  community.  We  got  all  His  good,  and 
He  gets  all  our  ill,  that's  a  good  coss*  for  us.  He  took 
our  curses,  we  took  His  blessings  ;  He  our  shame,  we 
His  glory ;  He  our  sins,  we  His  righteousness  :  He  is 
the  Kirk's,  and  the  Kirk  is  Christ's.  That  day  God 
laid  upon  Christ,  we  were  shifted  out  from  under 
God's  wrath ;  and  God  struck  the  Kirk's  Head,  to  let 
the  members  go  free.  When  Christ  was  in  blocking! 
to  buy  His  Kirk,  He  knew  the  faults  in  the  wares ;  He 
kend  well  enough  that  curse  of  God,  and  wrath  of 
God,  and  hell,  and  sixi,  and  many  ills  followed  the 
Kirk.  Yet  Christ  would  not  rue  in  time;  He  said 
freely,  I  will  take  her,  and  all  the  ills  that  follow  her, 
howbeit  she  be  blind,  lame,  yea,  a  cursed  bride ;  yet  I 
will  make  her  My  wife.  Would  to  God  we  could  take 
Christ  and  all  the  faults  that  follow  Him.  There  be 
men  that  will  not  coss  with  Christ ;  but  will  keep  their 
will,  their  lust.  God  was  about  to  strike  us,  and  had 
lifted  (to  speak  so)  His  wand  to  bring  a  stroke  of  His 
wrath  upon  us  ;  and  Christ  came  in,  and  held  His 
hand,  and  laid  down  Himself,  and  bade  His  Father 
lay  upon  Him.  Ye  never  saw  such  a  suiter  as  Christ ; 
He  prays  us  to  coss  for  the  better.  He  cries  to  you 
for  God's  sake  give  Me  your  dross,  and  ye  shall  get 
My  gold;  give  Me  your  sins,  and  I  give  you  My 
righteousness.  Is  it  not  an  hard  matter?  Men  will 
not  give  their  ill  to  Christ,  and  transfer  and  give  over 
their  sins  to  Christ.     He  says  to  you.  Give  Me  your 


JtXxchauge.     This  word  is  in  Gawin  Douglas.     It  is  Anglo- 
Saxon  "to  barter:"  sometimes  spelt  *'coos." 
t  Barg^aining. 


266  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


lust  that  I  may  crucify  it,  and  I  will  give  you  love  for 
it :  give  Me  your  anger,  and  I  will  give  you  My  zeal 
for  it.  Then  make  a  coss  and  take  Him  at  His  word, 
ilk  day  be  making  new  blocks"  with  Christ.  Deny 
your  folly,  and  give  it  to  Him  to  crucify ;  and  seek  ye 
His  wisdom,  you  must  do  this  ever,  till  all  nature  be 
away  and  done,  and  nothing  in  you  but  grace. 

3.  There  is  a  community  of  gifts  and  graces  betwixt 
Christ  and  us.  Not  a  grace  we  get  from  God,  but  it 
comes  through  Christ's  hands  to  us;  so  that  Christ 
keeps  the  pawns  betwixt  God  and  us.  God  gives 
grace  to  His  Kirk,  but  where  is  it?  It  is  in  Jesus. 
Grace  is  laid  in  pledge  in  the  hands  of  Jesus,  and  it 
was  made  a  running  over  fountain.  For  as  we  see  in 
a  race,  the  wage,t  or  the  garland,  is  not  in  the  hand  of 
the  runners,  but  some  friends  keeps  the  stakes  J  for 
both  :  so  Christ  keeps  the  wage  for  the  Father  and  us. 
Christ  indeed  is  the  Fountain  (John  i.  14),  "We  beheld 
His  glory,  as  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  Son." 
Some  friend  keeps  the  stakes  §  for  both.  There  the 
Well  is  running  over,  but  for  what  end?  (verse  16), 
*'  That  out  of  His  fulness  we  might  all  receive,  even 
grace  for  grace."  So  God  gave  us  life  eternal.  But  who 
has  this  life  in  pledge  ?  Even  Jesus  Christ,  (i  John 
v.  11),  "And  this  is  the  witness  that  God  hath  given  us, 
even  eternal  life  ;  and  this  life  is  in  His  Son."  Lord, 
send  us  part  of  this  consigned  grace.  Again,  ye  send 
not  up  a  sigh  to  God,  but  first  it  must  be  laid  down  in 
the  hand  of  Him  that  keeps  the  pawns  (Rev.  viii.  2). 

(By  the  way  I  shall  give  the  use,  with  every  article  of 
the  doctrine.)  Try  thy  light,  try  thy  grace,  try  thy 
honour,  and  credit,  riches,  and  all  the  blessings  that 
ye  have ;  the  silver  and  the  gold,  whether  these  bless- 

*  Bargains,  t  The  deposit.  %  Money  deposited.  §  The  pledge. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  267 


ings  be  impawned^  in  Christ's  hand  orf  ye  get  them. 
If  ye  get  them  not  in  Christ,  they  are  unchristened 
blessings,  and  they  want  the  fashion.  |.  Woe  be  to 
these  blessings  that  came  never  through  Christ's  holy 
hands.  Again,  try  your  prayers,  sighs,  and  desires, 
and  your  service,  if  ye  offer  them  to  God  in  Christ. 
Many  unchristened  prayers  go  to  heaven  that  are 
never  welcomed  of  God.  Ye  must  take  your  com- 
munion out  of  God's  hand;  at  the  nearest,  out  of 
Christ's  hands.  There  should  be  nothing  done  be- 
twixt God  and  us,  but  Christ  should  be  at  it. 

4.  There  is  a  community  of  sufferings  betwixt 
Christ  and  us.  Poor  would  we  be,  if  His  sufferings 
were  not  ours ;  woe  would  be  our  case  if  His  sufferings 
were  not  ours.  But  this  way  it  goes;  He  is  that 
apple  tree  excellent  above  all  the  trees  of  the  forest, 
and  we  do  rest  under  the  tree.  Now  when  the  shower 
of  rain  falls,  it  lights  first  on  the  tree,  and  the  stroke 
of  it  is  broken,  and  it  does  not  great  harm  to  those 
that  are  under  the  tree.  Each  new  shot  at  the  Kirk, 
lights  first  on  the  head  of  Christ,  and  He  breaks  the 
point  of  the  arrow.  If  ye  be  ill  spoken  of,  so  was  He ; 
if  ye  be  hated  of  the  world,  so  was  He ;  if  your  blood 
be  shed,  and  your  face  deformed,  so  was  His  fair  face 
deformed  and  marred  (Isaiah  lii.  14).  Be  content  to 
drink  with  Christ.  Woe  be  to  them  that  are  not  in 
Christ,  and  yet  are  in  trouble  :  the  arrow  with  the 
sharp  point  comes  upon  them,  and  goes  to  their  heart, 
and  slays  them.  Try  if  your  troubles  be  christened 
troubles,  that  light  first  upon  Christ,  the  Head,  and 
then  upon  you  as  the  members.  Try  if  by  faith  ye 
have  an  union  with  Him.     Now  here  by  the  way  is  a 


*  Pledged  to  you.  t  Before. 

X  Like  clothes  that  have  not  the  proper  cut. 


268  C OMMUNION  SERMONS, 


great  comfort  in  trouble :  those  that  are  dear  to  you 
die,  and  ye  mourn  :  Christ  mourned  and  groaned  in 
spirit  for  dead  Lazarus  :  ye  weep,  so  He  weeped. 
Are  ye  poor  and  aye  at  the  borrowing?  so  was  Christ 
at  the  borrowing  trade  all  His  days ;  should  ye  not 
then  with  good-will  drink  off  the  cup  that  He  drank 
off  before  you.  When  ye  murmur,  and  will  not  drink 
willingly,  ye  refuse  to  pledge  Christ :  but  ye  must 
pledge  Him,  and  drink  with  God's  blessing,  and  with 
joy;  He  will  not  poison  you.  They  are  none  of 
Christ's  friends  that  will  not  pledge  Him  (Matt.  xx.  21). 
5.  There  is  a  community  of  glory  betwixt  Christ  and 
us.  The  heaven  that  the  Mediator,  Christ,  enjoys,  is 
our  heaven ;  our  heaven  is  to  the  Man  Christ  in  a 
conquest :  heaven  was  bought  with  blood  to  Him 
and  us.  And  to  make  you  rejoice,  none  of  God's 
children  gets  a  heaven  properly  of  their  own ;  why  ? 
We  got  a  share  and  part  of  Christ's  inheritance.  He  is 
the  principal  heir  (Rom.  viii.  5).  We  are  the  con- 
junct heirs.  Sweet  is  that  word  which  He  speaks  to 
His  children.  (Luke  xxii.  29),  "And  I  appoint  unto 
you  a  kingdom,  as  My  Father  hath  appointed  unto 
Me,  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  My  table  in  My 
kingdom,  sitting  on  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel."  The  meaning  is,  My  Father  hath  made  a 
disposition"  to  Me  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is 
Mine;  and,  My  dear  children,  I  will  think  heaven 
uncoutht  if  ye  be  not  with  Me.  Here  I  make  a  dis- 
position and  resignation  of  that  kingdom  to  you ;  ye 
shall  sit  at  My  table  in  My  kingdom.  Up  your  heart ! 
howbeit  ye  be  not  lords  in  earth  ye  shall  be  lords  in 
heaven;  I  and  ye  shall  part  kingdoms  and  thrones 
tosrether. 


*  Handed  over  to.  t  Strange. 


CO  MM  UN  1 02^  SEKMONS,  269 


Rejoice  in  this,  ye  that  are  in  Christ,  and  see  your 
condition,  ye  and  Christ  are  halfers*  together  of  heaven 
and  glory.  Of  if  God's  children  be  in  a  sweet  case. 
As  long  as  Christ  is  in  heaven  and  keeps  the  inheri- 
tance, as  long  shall  we  keep  our  right ;  and  who  can 
cause  Him  flit  ?+  The  devil  hath  made  the  enemies 
of  the  grace  of  God  to  miskeng  all  our  communion 
with  Christ.  They  have  put  Christ  and  the  elect 
together  as  a  man  in  an  inn  for  a  night,  and  to  go 
away  to-morrow.  They  have  yoked  Christ  and  us 
together  as  if  He  were  one  and  we  another ;  as  if  He 
were  His  own,  and  we  were  our  own ;  as  if  Christ  had 
no  law  and  right  to  us,  and  we  had  no  law  and  right 
to  Christ,  but  met  at  a  venture,  and  sundered  at  a 
venture ;  as  if  we  had  one  heaven,  and  Hs  had 
another ;  as  if  He  had  His  portion  by  Himself  alone, 
and  that  He  keeps  for  ever;  and  that  we  had  our 
share  by  our  alone, |1  to  sell  when  we  pleased,  so  as  if 
we  dispone  heaven,  we  dispone  not  Christ's  heaven. 
Nay;  in  the  fighting.  He  fights  all  the  battles  His  alone; 
We  but  look  on  :  but  when  it  comes  to  the  dividing  of 
the  spoil,  we  get  a  rich  share  of  the  spoil.  Yea,  He 
gave  the  whole  sum  for  the  inheritance,  and  we  no- 
thing ;  yet  we  are  set  at  His  elbow  in  a  throne  with 
Him.  Now  seeing  our  rights  are  good,  slip  not  from 
them :  do  not  as  some  unworthy  heir,  who  having  a 
good  right,  slips  from  it  for  a  feckless  composition  after 
drink,  and  quits  all,  howbeit  he  should  beg.  Indeed 
the  wicked  do  this.  The  devil  drinks  them  blankful,^ 
and  fills  them  with  worldly  pleasures,  and  garrs**  them 
subscribe  a  resignation,  and  gives  them  an  unworthy 
composition,  some  present  pleasure.     Compone  not 


*  Sharers.       t  Oh  surely.       X  Remove.      §  Misapprehend. 
11  All  of  ourselves.     ^  Carte  blanche.     **  Forces. 


270 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


with  the  devil  to  go  the  law  with  him ;  let  Christ  be 
your  advocate,  subscribe  not  a  submission  with  the 
devil,  come  never  in  trysting*  terms  with  him.  Hold 
you  aback  from  the  world,  and  the  lusts  of  it ;  it  is 
the  devil's  arles  that  he  gives  to  silly  drunken  heirs. 
When  they  cry  hills  and  mountains  fall  on  us,  they 
would  fain  give  back  the  arles,  and  rue ;  but  it  is  out 
of  time. 

"  And  I  am  HisT — This  property  of  the  covenant 
is  mutual.  As  she  says  and  acknowledges  that  He  is 
hers,  and  so  Christ  is  bound  to  her  by  His  promise  : 
so  she  acknowledges  that  she  is  bound  to  Him,  and  is 
His  by  right.  Multitudes  of  the  world  would  play 
fast  and  loose  with  Him :  they  would  have  Christ  fast, 
and  themselves  loose.  They  devise  a  covenant  of 
their  own,  and  say,  Christ  died  for  all,  and  God  is 
merciful  to  all,  and  God  will  relieve  all  Christian  souls 
from  hell;  and  they  think  God  and  Christ  fast  enough 
to  them,  but  in  the  meantime  they  are  loose,  and  live 
like  dogs  and  swine  in  their  filthiness.  These  men 
would  have  Christ  as  a  child  in  making  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  exceeding  silly.  Should  Christ  give  Himself 
for  you,  and  will  ye  neither  give  life  nor  goods  for 
Him?  Christ  came  to  save  you  (Matt.  xx.  28),  and 
will  ye  be  His  master  ?  Are  ye  not  obliged  to  ser\^e 
Him  ?  This  is  to  make  a  Gospel  of  your  own  :  too 
many  obey  the  Gospel  as  long  as  it  flatters  them. 
As  long  as  it  tells  them  Christ's  part,  and  that  He 
shed  His  blood,  and  came  to  save  sinners  freely :  that 
is  the  best  chapter  in  all  the  Bible  !  But  when  the 
Gospel  begins  to  tell  them  what  is  their  part,  and  that 
they  must  deny  themselves,  crucify  their  lusts,  and 
take  up  Christ's  heavy  cross,  they  start  back.     These 

*  Never  must  listen  to  his  terms. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


271 


are  tender-footed  Christians  that  walk  in  the  law  and 
in  the  Gospel,  so  long  as  they  go  softly  on  it  as  a  bed 
of  roses,  and  hurt  not  their  feet :  but  when  a  thorn  of 
the  command  touches  them,  they  stand  aback.  Ye 
may  not  have  God's  law,  and  take  as  much  of  it  as 
serves  you.  As  Christ  gave  Himself  to  be  yours,  and 
has  subscribed  the  contract;  so  give  yourselves  to 
Him,  and  subscribe  your  part  of  the  contract  to  be 
His,  as  He  is  yours.  Take  therefore  the  law  and  this 
sweet  Saviour  both  together,  bind  yourselves  to  Him 
to  be  His,  as  He  is  bound  to  be  yours. 

^'  Hefceddh  among  the  lilies^ — To  prove  that  Christ 
doth  esteem  her  as  His  kirk  and  flock,  His  wife,  His 
beloved;  she  says.  He  feeds  her  amongst  the  lihes. 
That  is,  the  pure  and  uncorrupted  word  of  God.  Or, 
the  lilies  are  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  opposed  to  stink- 
ing roots,  and  bitter  roots  that  grow  in  ttie  Kirk,  when 
judgment  is  like  hemlock,  or  wormwood.  Or,  the  lilies 
are  the  saints  of  God,  that  are  lilies  amongst  thorns. 
However  it  be,  it  is  certain  the  Lord  feeds  His  Kirk 
with  as  much  spiritual  food  as  holds  in  their  life  in 
the  way  to  heaven,  till  their  day  of  marriage  come 
(Rom.  viii.  23).  We  receive  here  the  first  fruits. 
When  a  man  has  shorn  a  stouk'"''  of  his  corn-field,  that 
puts  him  in  assurance  of  the  whole  crop.  God  would 
have  Israel  to  taste  of  the  vine  grapes  of  Canaan,  to 
assure  them  they  should  get  the  land  itself  (2  Cor. 
i.  22),  God  hath  sealed  w^  and  given  us  the  earnest  of 
His  Spirit  in  our  hearts. 

Here  be  two  words,  i.  God  does  with  His  chil- 
dren in  this  life  as  a  merchant  does  with  his  wares  he 
has  bought ;  because  he  cannot  transport  them  pres- 
ently, he  puts  a  ''  seaP^  or  mark  upon  them,  and  then 


Cut  down  a  stack. 


272 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


it  may  be  sold  to  no  other  body.  His  children  strike 
hands,  He  writes  His  name,  and  His  arms,  the  image 
of  God  in  their  soul ;  and  then  when  the  devil  comes 
through  the  market  to  buy  (for  he  offers  aye  money  in 
hand,  pleasure,  lusts,  honours),  ye  have  an  answer  to 
give  him.  Tell  him,  your  soul  is  sealed  already ;  you 
have  blocked"^  with  an  honest  Merchant,  Christ;  and 
He  has  put  His  mark  upon  you  that  ye  may  not  sell ; 
and  it  were  a  pity  to  beguile  Him.  And,  therefore, 
bid  that  deceiving  loonf  go  seek  his  market  in  another 
place ;  ye  are  not  his  merchant.  The  devil  will  pro- 
mise them  as  fair  as  God :  he  will  not  prig|  with 
them  :  he  will  not  care  to  promise  much  more  than 
heaven.  "  Ye  shall  be  like  God P''  but  he  pays  not  so 
well  as  God  doth.  Agree  not  with  him  :  block  not 
with  him. 

2.  There  is  another  sweet  word  used;  that  God 
gives  to  His  children,  ^'the  earnest'''  of  His  Spirit  in 
this  life;  He  gives  them  arles,  faith,  hope,  joy.  These 
be  like  six  or  seven  shillings  to  warrant  that  ye  shall 
get  the  principal.  Beloved,  God  has  blocked^  mth 
you,  and  given  you  arles.  He  would  therefore  that 
the  bargain  hold.  Will  ye  then  take  God's  arles,  and 
block  with  the  devil  ?  By  God's  arles  ye  have  assur- 
ance of  this,  God  will  come  and  loose  His  arles ;  rue 
not  of  the  block,  never  any  man  had  cause  to  rue  the 
block  with  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  another  word  used 
(John  xvi.)  Christ  is  going  to  heaven  to  leave  His 
disciples;  He  promised  to  come  again  to  them  to 
see  them :  how  sorry  were  they  to  want  Him,  and 
blythell  were  they  of  that  word  that  He  said.  He  will 
come  again.     Therefore,  in  sign  and  token  that  He 


*  Bargained.        t  Vagabond.        X  Try  to  lower  the  price. 
§  Made  a  bargain.  |1  Glad. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


273 


would  come  again,  He  promised  them  a  pawn ;  that 
was  His  Holy  Spirit.  Ye  know  Christ  and  we  are 
contracted  in  this  life ;  we  will  be  maiTied  again  at  the 
day  He  comes  to  judge  the  world.  Now  all  the  woo- 
ing time,  there  goes  love  tokens  betwixt  them,  and 
missive  letters.  Tell  me  when  ye  got  a  letter  last 
from  Christ  ?  There  will  be  messengers  going  betwixt 
you.  This  same  word  is  a  messenger;  the  Sacraments 
are  love  tokens  that  our  Wooer  has  left  to  assure  us 
that  He  is  contracted  with  us.  I  pray  you  take  no 
gifts  from  the  devil ;  away  with  ill  conquests  f  away 
with  lusts,  and  the  love  of  the  world.  I  hope  ye  are 
not  minded  to  marry  with  sin;  if  ye  do,  ye  are  ashamed 
then  for  all  your  days.  Ye  are  come  off  God's  house, 
and  are  His  image.  Fy,  it  is  a  shame  to  hear  tell  of 
it,  to  marry  with  a  base  slave,  the  devil.  I  allowf  you 
here  to  be  wise  and  prudent  in  your  marriage ;  marry 
not  for  gear,;  keep  yourself  to  be  a  good  match. 
There  be  a  sort  of  indifferent  men,  that  ye  call  harm- 
less men.  They  have  neither  good  nor  ill,  they  love 
not  falsehood;  they  love  not  Popery,  and  yet  they 
will  not  burn  for  the  truth ;  they  are  like  blank  paper 
as  it  is  thought,  neither  God  nor  the  devil  has  blocked 
with  them.  But  has  God  given  you  no  arles,  nor  no 
pawn?  Satan  will  get  you.  But  do  this  first,  hold 
yourself  with  Christ,  and  then  ye  have  an  answer  to 
give  other  lovers,  the  world  and  the  devil.  Ye  may 
laugh  and  say,  ye  are  too  long  in  coming ;  I  have  pro- 
mised myself  away  to  another  husband,  and  therefore 
I  cannot  have  you  also ;  for  I  will  not  have  two  hus- 
bands (i  Cor.  vi.  19).  The  Apostle  takes  a  reason  to 
prove  that  the  body  should  not  be  given  to  an  harlot ; 
//  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Set  the  house  of 

*  Ill-g  ytten  property,  f  Advise,  J  Goods. 

S 


274  ^  OMMUNION  SERMONS, 


your  soul  to  God,  and  then  for  shame  ye  cannot  win 
off  Him  to  cause  Him  flit.  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price."  Married  folk  have  not  many  wooers :  the  devil 
is  busy  to  seek  them  that  are  virgins,  and  love  not 
Christ  to  be  their  Husband. 

^'  Till  the  day  dawn;'"  that  is,  the  marriage  day; 
and  in  Hebrew  called,  The  Day  for  excellency.  To 
say  the  truth,  it  is  a  day !  And  called  The  Day  of 
Christ,  The  Day  of  redemption  (Eph.  iv.  29,^2  Tim.  i. 
12).  It  is  called  the  day  for  these  causes.  It  is  the 
day  when  Christ  is  perfect  in  His  members.  Now 
Christ's  body  is  mangled,  arms,  and  legs,  and  hands, 
in  sundry  places ;  some  not  bom,  some  born,  but  in 
the  devil's  service;  some  rotten  in  the  earth,  and 
casten  in  the  sea.  Christ  is  bleeding  in  His  mem- 
bers ;  there  is  many  a  wound  in  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ  this  day.  All  will  be  gathered;  in  that  day  He 
gets  His  bride.  He  enters  in  peaceable  possession  of 
her. 

That  day  Christ  shall  give  in  His  accompts,  and  all 
His  Father's  generally.  He  shall  render  an  accompt 
of  all  that  He  took  by  the  hand,  and  shall  put  up  His 
sword,  and  never  draw  it  again.  And  as  the  Chief 
Shepherd,  He  shall  make  an  accompt  of  all  His 
lambs,  and  tell  His  Father,  these  be  all  My  silly 
sheep;  they  have  win  away  with  their  life.  I  went 
through  woods,  and  waters,  and  briers,  and  thorns,  to 
gather  them  in,  and  My  feet  was  pricked^  and  My 
hands  and  My  side  pierced,  ere  I  could  get  a  grip  of 
them ;  but  now  here  they  are.  Good  cause  shall  the 
Lord  have  to  clap  Christ's  head  that  day.  And  judge 
ye  if  ye  will  have  a  blyth  heart,  to  hear  Christ  and  His 
Father  to  compt*  together,  when  ye  shall  be  all  stand- 

*  Reckon* 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  275 


ing  under  the  broad  scarlet  robe  of  Christ's  righteous- 
ness, and  as  many  glorified  angels  looking  on. 

And  every  soldier  that  day  shall  shew  his  wounds 
to  his  Lord,  saying,  Lord,  I  have  lost  this  and  this  for 
Thee !  And  God  shall  clap  our  head,  and  take  us 
benn*  to  His  chamber  of  presence,  all  glorious  tapestry 
there  !  (Psalm  xlv.  14).  The  Lord  make  you  ready  for 
that  day. 

"  A7id  the  shadows  jflee  away^^  or  mist.  This  life  is 
all  but  a  night,  because  of  the  ignorance  and  darkness 
of  our  mind.  We  see  but  the  portrait  of  the  kingdom 
in  the  glass  of  the  Word  and  sacraments.  Then  when 
that  day  dawns,  we  shall  see  Him  face  to  face.  So 
long  as  the  night  is,  we  do  nothing  but  by  the  use  of 
candle ;  when  the  sun  rises,  the  candle  is  blown  out, 
lest  we  should  burn  day-light.  The  Gospel  is  God's 
candle  to  let  us  see  the  way  to  heaven ;  but  when  it  is 
day-light,  and  Christ  lighted  to  us  from  heaven,  then 
shall  come  light  and  heat  from  Him,  clear  light  and 
knowledge  that  shall  endure  for  ever.  Our  soul  here 
is  like  an  house  in  the  night,  w^hen  doors  and  windows 
are  closed.  In  that  day  the  doors  and  windows  shall 
be  castf  up,  that  the  sun  may  shine  for  ever  upon  us. 
We  shall  not  need  to  seek  comm.unions ;  the  Lamb  of 
God  shall  be  present  with  you  for  evermore.  (Rev. 
xxi.),  "  I  saw  no  temple  there,  for  the  Lord  God  Al- 
7nighiy  is  theU'  light''  We  get  but  here  the  parings  of 
God's  bread,  and  a  four  hours'i  drink,  a  slight  after- 
noon's meal,  to  speak  so.  There  the  board  shall  be 
covered,  and  the  great  loaf  set  upon  it,  and  all  shall 
eat,  and  all  be  welcome,  and  the  table  shall  never  be 
drawn.     Ye  shall  have  your  fill  of  Christ.     Ye  shall 


*  Far  in.        t  Be  thrown  open.        t  A  luncheon, 


276  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


drink,  and  drink  at  the  welFs  head,  the  cup  of  salva- 
tion for  evermore. 

It  is  night  here,  because  we  know  not  what  we  are. 
Marches  are  not  redd*  betwixt  God  and  Satan  here. 
We  are  but  silly  bodies  here,  earthen  vessels  often  in 
trouble  (i  Cor.  i.),  and  yet  King's  sons  (i  John  iii.  2), 
^'  Behold,  now  we  are  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not 
yet  appear  what  we  shall  be  :  but  we  know  that  when 
He  doth  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall 
see  Him  as  He  is."  A  friend  from  a  foe  cannot  be 
known  in  the  night :  care  not  what  the  world  think  of 
you,  it  is  night,  they  cannot  well  see  you. 

It  is  night,  because  of  great  trouble  which  besets  us 
(Luke  iii.  i,  2).  Let  us  be  content  with  an  hard  bed, 
the  morn  will  be  a  good  day.  And  think  ye  what  a 
comfort  it  will  be  to  you,  when  God  puts  up  His  own 
holy  hands  to  your  face,  and  to  your  watery  eyes,  and 
shall  dry  them  with  the  napkin  of  His  consolation. 
Through  this  short  night,  lie  still  in  peace,  and  sleep 
by  faith  in  God.  Be  content  to  lie  down  in  your 
grave  for  a  night  or  two ;  for  your  Husband,  Christ, 
shall  be  at  your  bed-side  soon  in  the  morning. 

"  Ttir7i,  My  beloved,  and  be  thoic  like  a  roe  or  a  young 
hart  upon  the  mountains  of  BetherT — As  (Psalm  Ixxi. 
21),  Thou  did  turn  about  and  comfort  me.  Turn 
about  and  come  to  me,  as  swiftly  as  a  roe  or  a  young 
hart  upon  the  mountains  of  Bether.  The  mountains 
of  division  or  separation,  were  Mount  Gilead,  severed  or 
parted  from  the  rest  of  the  land  of  Judea  by  the  river 
of  Jordan ;  in  the  which  mountains,  there  was  pleas- 
ant haunting.!  Here,  she  desires  His  presence,  either 
in  the  last  judgment,  or  in  His  incarnation,  or  by  the 
comfort  of  His  Holy  Spirit ;  and  prays  that  as  roes 

*  Matters  are  not  settled.  t  Place  for  company. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


277 


and  harts  are  not  hindered  any  whit  by  any  craigs  or 
down-falls  of  the  rocks  to  descend  and  meet  one  with 
another :  so  Christ  would  be  kind  to  His  love,  and 
count  mountains  as  valleys,  and  let  no  craigie-way* 
hinder  the  Lord  Jesus  to  come.  She  can  never  get 
her  fill  of  Christ ;  she  is  so  browdenf  on  Christ,  that 
she  ever  would  be  at  a  union  with  Him,  where  is 
kissing  (verse  7);  in  the  place  where  He  dwells  (chap, 
xxiii.)  under  His  shadow,  in  His  cellar.  We  cannot  be 
far  enough  on  in  going  to  Christ :  we  can  never  be 
near  hand  enough  Him.  J  Cry  ye  to  Him,  Come  !  for 
He  crys  to  you,  Come;  and  then  ye  will  meet.  Ill§ 
gate  will  not  hinder  our  Bridegroom  to  come.  He 
cares  not  for  a  shower  of  rain,  or  a  dark  night.  He 
loupsll  over  hills  to  be  at  His  Kirk.  Give  ye  Him  a 
meeting.     Amen. 


*  Rough.  t  Fond  ;  warmly  attached  to. 

Sufficiently  close  to.  \  Bad  roads.  H  Leaps. 


SERMON        XII/- 

IT  is  Christ's  will  that  His  bairns  get  their  fill  and 
that  they  grow.  Christ  never  had  an  hungry 
house,  nor  His  Father  before  Him.  There  is  bread 
and  drink  in  His  Father's  house  :  eat  and  drink : 
much  good  may  it  do  you,  for  ye  get  it  with  Christ's 
good-will,  and  with  His  heartsome  blessing.  Now  in 
the  strength  of  it  work  a  good  work  to  Christ,  your 
Master.  He  gives  His  servants  meat  and  drink  with 
a  good  house  in  a  new  city. 

Who  is  this  that  hath  His  garments  dipped  in  blood, 
yea,  in  red  blood  ?  Know  ye  Him,  beloved  ?  But  He 
kens  you  full  well.  Come  near  Him,  and  stand  not 
afar  off.  Christ  says  not,  '^Look  byf  Me,"  but,  "Look 
on  Me,  Whom  you  have  pierced  with  your  sins."  Ye 
must  not  turn  your  shoulder  to  Him,  but  set  your 
face  toward  Him.  Love  your  new  Husband  well,  and 
let  all  the  old  go  and  play  themselves.  RentJ  your 
contract,  that  was  betwixt  you  and  your  hearts'  lusts ; 
and  now  Christ  says,  you  shall  have  a  better  life  than 
ever  you  had  in  your  old  husband's  time.  Provide 
much  plenishing§  against  the  time  ye  and  He  take  up 
house  in  heaven  together.     Christ  is  dressing  all  the 


*  Properly,  this  should  be  called,  Notes  of  an  Address  to  a 
Scots  congregation  in  London  at  the  Communion  table.  It  was 
given  about  the  year  1643,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly. 

t  Look  past  Me.  J  Tear  in  pieces.  §  Furniture. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


279 


chambers  and  the  hall  for  you  up  in  your  Father's 
house.  Make  away  as  fast  as  ye  can.  Take  home 
your  writs  with  you  :  Christ  hath  subscribed  them. 
Take  home  the  King's  pardon  with  you,  written  with 
your  Lord's  own  heart-blood,  and  the  King's  great 
seal  at  it :  and  stamp  upon  the  seal  Christ's  arms, 
even  the  slain  Son  of  God,  hanging  upon  the  Cross, 
subscribing  a  large  dispensation  to  you. 

Now  remember  before  witnesses  ye  are  His.  Have 
ye  not  reason  to  think  that  Christ  is  heartsome  in  His 
own  house?  He  has  made  His  wife  a  great  feast 
to-day.  Lie  not  down  to  sleep  after  your  meat. 
Christ  has  fed  you  to  run  a  race,  even  a  race  to 
heaven.  Awake  therefore  !  In  the  Word  and  Sacra- 
ments Christ  now  takes  you  into  the  chariot  with 
Himself,  and  draws  your  hearts  after  Him.  Be  Satan's 
and  the  world's  footmen  no  longer,  for  it  is  a  weari- 
some life.  But  ride  with  Christ  in  His  chariot,  for  it 
is  all  paved  with  love.  The  bottom  of  it  is  the  love 
of  slain  Christ :  ye  must  sit  there  upon  love.  Love  is 
a  soft  cushion  :  but  the  devil  and  the  world  make  you 
sweat  at  the  sore  work  of  sin,  and  run  upon  your  own 
feet  too.  But  it  is  better  to  be  Christ's  horsemen  and 
ride,  than  to  be  Satan's  trogged*  footmen,  and  to 
travel  upon  clay.  Christ  says.  He  has  washen  you 
to-day ;  sin  no  more.  Keep  yourselves  clean,  go  not 
to  Satan's  sooty  houses ;  but  take  you  to  your  Hus- 
band, The  Fairest  among  ten  thousand,  that  your  lovely 
Husband  may  make  your  robes  clean  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.  Ye  are  going  into  a  clean  heaven  and  an 
undefiled  city;  take  not  filthy  clayey  hands,  and  clattyf 
feet  with  you.  What  say  ye  of  your  new  Husband  ? 
Please  J  ye  your  new  Husband  well?     May  not  His 

*  Fatigued,     t  Dirty.     %  Perhaps  it  should  be,  "  Pleases  you  T 


2 So  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


servants  say  in  His  name  that  ye  are  heartily  welcome 
to  Him  ?  And  may  they  not  say  in  your  name  that 
He  is  heartily  welcome  to  you?  A  plain  answer? 
Ye  cannot  well  want  an  half-marrow  f  no  soul  liveth 
well  a  single  life.  Now,  seeing  ye  must  marry,  marry 
Christ.  Ye  will  never  get  a  better  Husband.  Take 
Him,  and  His  Father's  blessing.  Be  holy,  and  get  a 
good  name,  and  Christ  will  not  want  you.  It  is  many 
a  day  since  ye  were  invited  to  this  banquet,  why 
should  you  bide  from  it  ?  Ye  are  come  not  uncalled. 
Christ  both  sitteth  and  eateth  with  you,  and  standeth 
and  serveth  you.  Christ  both  said  the  grace,  and 
blessed  the  meat,  and  says  it  to-day,  and  prays, 
*'My  Father's  blessing  be  on  the  banquet."  Your 
Father  cries,  "  Divorce,  divorce  all  other  lovers ;  go 
and  agree  with  Christ,  your  Cautioner,!  and  purchase 
a  discharge  if  ye  can."  It  is  better  holding  than  draw- 
ing ;  better  to  say,  *^  Here  He  is,"  than,  '*  Here  He 
was;"  and,  '^Slippery-fingered J  I  held  Him,  and  would 
not  let  Him  go."  Rive§  all  His  clothes,  and  He  will 
not  be  angry  at  you.  In  death.  He  held  a  strait  grip 
of  you.  Hell,  devils,  the  wrath  of  God,  the  curse  of 
the  law,  could  not  all  loose  His  grips  of  you.  Christ 
got  a  claughtll  of  you  in  the  water,  and  He  brought  all 
with  Him.  '  Look  up  by  faith  to  Christ.  Ye  could 
never  have  been  set  up  by  angels.  May  not  Christ 
say,  The  law  took  such  a  cleekU  of  Me,  and  drew  Me 
here  amongst  thieves,  for  your  cause  ?  And  was  not 
that  strong  love,  that  humble  Christ  cared  not  what 
they  did  to  Him,  so  being  He  might  get  you  ? 

In  that  night  wherein  our  Lord  was  betrayed.  He 
ordained  the  Supper  for  you  upon  His  death-bed.    He 

*  Companion.         f  Surety.         J  I,  who  am  so  slippery. 
§  Rend.        i|  Seizure.        ^  Seizure. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  281 


made  His  Testament,  and  left  it  in  legacy  to  you.  In 
death  He  had  more  mind  of  you,  His  wife,  than  He 
had  of  Himself  In  the  garden,  on  the  cross,  in  the 
grave.  His  silly  lost  sheep  was  aye  in  His  mind.  Love 
has  a  brave  memory,  and  cannot  forget.  He  has 
graven  you  upon  the  palms  of  His  hands ;  and  when 
He  looks  to  His  hands  and  says,  **  My  sheep  I  cannot 
forget.  Yea,  in  my  death,  Aly  Sister^  My  Spouse^  was 
aye  in  my  mind.  She  took  my  night's  sleep  from  Me, 
that  night  I  was  sweating  in  the  garden  for  her.'^ 

When  Christ  was  dead,  and  sleeping  on  the  cross, 
and  His  side  broken  with  a  spear,  until  blood  and 
water  came  out,  the  Lord  was  forming  a  wife  for  the 
second  Adam,  your  Husband.  In  death  He  was 
doing  and  working  what  no  wedded  man  could  do, 
even  blessing  and  embracing  His  beloved.  Come  ' 
near,  and  kiss  dead  Jesus.  O  but  slain  Christ  has  a 
sweet  smell,  even  when  He  is  dead  !  What  think  ye 
of  the  smell  of  His  love?  AVhat  think  ye  of  itself? 
What  of  these  feet,  that  went  up  and  do\vn  the  world 
to  seek  His  Fathers  lost  sheep,  pierced  with  nails? 
He  that  healed  the  diseases  of  the  lame  and  the  blind, 
He  is  now  blind  Himself.  The  eyes  that  were  oft  lift 
up  to  heaven  unto  God  in  prayer,  wearied  with  tears  ? 
His  head  pierced  with  thorns?  The  face  that  is  fairer 
than  the  sun,  the  dearest  beloved,  is  now  all  maimed 
with  blood,  and  the  hair  pulled  out  of  His  cheeks ! 
Could  love  be  painted  then  ?  Christ  was  pained,  and 
Christ  panted  on  the  cross  ;  so  pained  mercy  and  jus- 
tice set"^  God  in  His  loveliness  towards  man.  Who 
comes  with  outstretched  arms  to  meet  and  embrace 
Him  ?  When  Christ  was  black  and  blaef  upon  the 
cross,  and  pale  with  death,  He  was  then  fairest  and 

*  Turned  God.  t  Blue. 


282  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


pleasantest ;  God,  the  Father,  was  reconciled,  and 
looked  sweetly  upon  slain  Christ.  And  then  mercy 
and  peace  were  proclaimed  to  all  believing  sinners. 
The  law  and  justice  gloomed"^  still,  until  Christ's  life 
was  put  forth ;  and  now  they  smile  upon  believers, 
and  say,  "  Come  into  heaven,  pulled  open  by  Christ's 
holy  arm  from  the  cross,  when  it  was  shut  by  the  strong 
iron  bar  that  held  tot  the  door  of  heaven,  until  He 
hurt  His  arm,  and  took  it  by."  And  now  Christ  says, 
'^  Be  not  afraid,  come  away."  But  ye  will  say,  "  We 
are  weak,  we  dowt  not  put  up§  Christ's  door."  ''  Well 
then,"  says  Christ,  "  I  am  strong  enough  for  you ;  and 
now  seeing  it  is  already  open,  get  up  quickly,  and 
enter  into  it,  and  there  abide."  Ye  are  Christ's  breth- 
ren and  sisters.  When  ye  were  under  hell  and  con- 
demnation, He  pleaded  the  law  for  you.  It  was  no 
bought  plea||  to  His  hand  that  Christ  snappered^  on 
when  He  fought  \vith  your  enemies.  Christ  is  ''flesh 
of  yoicr  fleshy  and  bone  of  your  boneJ^  He  tired  Himself 
in  paying  the  law,  and  in  getting  the  inheritance  for 
you ;  and,  God  be  thanked,  He  won  the  plea,  but  it 
was  great  charges  to  Him.  Take  to  you  now  free  pur- 
chased redemption,  your  Brother's  new  forgiveness  of 
sins,  peace,  joy,  and  a  kingdom.  And  more,  take  Him 
to  be  your  Tord,  and  much  good  may  you  have  of 
your  new  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

Of  all  wonders  that  ever  were  read  in  a  printed  book 
this  is  the  first :  Christ  made  an  exchange ;  Christ 
would  coss"^*  lives  with  you,  and  make  a  niffer.tf  He 
never  beguiled  you,  for  He  took  shame,  and  gave  you 
glory.     He  took  the  curse,  and  gave  you  the  blessing, 

*  Frowned  all  along.       +  Kept  fast.         +  Dare.        §  Open. 

II  No  fictitious  quarrel.  "^  Stumbled. 

**  Barter  ;  often  so  used  in  his  sermon  on  Song  ii.  14. 

ft  Exchange. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  283 


He  took  death,  and  gave  you  life.  The  fairest  Candle 
that  ever  was  lighted  is  blown  out.  The  Head  of  th^ 
Church  is  dead,  and  the  Lord  of  Life  is  laid  down  in 
the  grave  !  No  wonder  that  the  sun,  that  did  shew** 
part  of  his  labours,  be  shut  down ;  because  the  great 
Sun  of  Righteousness  was  shut  down  in  the  grave,  and 
a  stone  laid  above  Him.  Good  right  have  ye  to  Christ, 
accept  of  His  niffer,  and  change  with  Him,  and  take 
His  best  blessing  and  purchased  redemption. 

What  a  sight  is  our  Lord  Jesus  going  out  of  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  His  cross  upon  His  back  ! 
He  went  like  to  fall  under  it,  He  was  so  weak  in  body 
and  weary  in  soul,  when  He  went  to  the  top  of  Mount 
Calvary.  And  all  the  time  He  saw  black  death  before 
Him,  and  a  curse.  He  was  even  then  bearing  God's 
curse  upon  His  back,  and  that  was  heavier  than  the 
cross.  Look  on  Him,  and  follow  Him,  He  will  not 
bid  you  lend  Him  a  lift.f  Give  Him  obedience,  and 
give  Him  love,  for  it  is  better  to  Him  than  if  you  had 
been  ''crucified  for  Him.  Look  upon  Him,  and 
look  for  Him.  "  Whither  I  go  ye  hiow^  and  the  way 
ye  knowP  Christ  this  day  lets  you  see  all  the  footsteps 
in  your  way  to  heaven.  In  His  death  and  blood  He 
made  a  new  way  to  heaven.  He  went  in  an  hard  way 
Himself,  through  God's  curse,  and  painful  sufferings. 
He  bids  you  not  follow  Him  that  way,  but  believe  in 
Him,  and  love  one  another.  And  stick  fast  by  Christ. 
The  old  gatej  ye  dought§  never  have  gone;  but 
Christ's  market-gate  is  a  sweet  and  easy  way.  If  ye 
will  bear  Christ's  yoke,  and  so  love  Him,  ye  and  He 
will  come  in  each  others'  hands  together  to  heaven.  And 
ye  will  be  the  welcomer  that  He  is  with  you — ''A  little 


*  Perhaps,  **  Share,"  i,  e.  suffer  along  with  Him. 
t  Offer  any  help.  +  Way.  §  Could. 


284  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


while J^  says  Christ,  "  and  I  will  come  again!^  Take 
you  here  Christ's  flesh  in  token  ^-hat  He  will  come 
again  to  you,  and  marry  you  to  Himself  for  ever. 
Your  new  Husband  hath  said,  within  a  little  while  He 
will  come  again  and  see  you ;  and  see  that  ye  keep 
yourselves  for  Him;  abide  in  Him.  Christ  says  to 
you,  "  My  dearest  ones,  weary  not,  fight  on,  I  shall  be 
at  you  your  fray-hour.*  Be  true  to  Me,  as  I  was  aye 
true  to  you.'' 

Indeed,  when  our  salvation  was  in  Christ's  hand,  it 
was  between  the  tyningt  and  winning.  But  our  Lord 
Jesus  played  us  not  a  slip,  He  was  aye  to  be  lippened J 
in.  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  Is  not  He  fair,  and 
lovely  ?  Has  not  His  wife  good  cause  to  say,  "  He  is 
altogether  lovely?"  (Cant.  v.  16).  His  breast  is  all 
made  of  love.  If  ye  had  but  Him  once  in  your  arms, 
ye  would  thrust  Him  into  your  heart;  yea,  and  beyond 
it,  if  it  could  be  gotten  done.  Christ  took  a  hearty 
grip  of  you  upon  the  cross ;  He  let  you  not  slip  out  of 
His  fingers  again. 

"'  Mafty  waters  cannot  quench  loveP — Christ  was  the 
Lamb,  roasted  with  fire  for  you.  He  suffered  hot  fire 
for  you.  He  got  a  toast  and  a  heat  that  made  Him 
sweat  blood,  but  yet  His  soul  was  not  burnt  away  with 
love.  Oh  !  Christ  would  fain  have  you ;  are  ye  not 
burning  with  love  to  be  at  Him  ?  Dow  ye§  find  in 
your  hearts  to  want  Him  ?  Oh  !  thrice  sweet  death — • 
to  die  of  love  for  Him  that  died  of  love  for  you ! 
Christ  in  the  garden,  on  the  cross,  in  the  grave,  under 
the  pursuing  of  His  Father's  wrath  and  anger,  speired|| 
aye  for  His  beloved.  His  Kirk.  He  sought  you  in  all 
these  places,  and  He  sought  aye  till  He  found  you. 

*  Your  hour  of  battle  ;  "  fray  "  has  this  sense  in  Gawin  Douglas. 
t  Losing.      X  To  be  trusted.      \  Are  ye  able  to  ?     ||  Asked. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  285 


He  would  not  want  His  errand  for  the  seeking.     He 
went  triumphing  and  rejoicing,  and  His  wife  in  His 
hand.     Christ  rueth^-'  nothing  that  He  has  done  for  ' 
you.     He  thinks  it  all  well  wared. t 

Christ  loves  you  better  than  His  life,  for  He  gave 
away  His  life  to  get  your  love.  He  spared  neither 
cost  nor  expense.  Christ,  who  was  without  sin,  gave 
Himself  a  ransom  for  you,  sinners.  His  Father  laid  a 
cross  on  Him.  He  bought  you  with  His  Father's 
curse  !  Was  not  that  a  dear  wife  to  Him  ?  Then  let 
Christ  be  dear  to  you.  Pilate  scourged  Christ,  and 
brought  Him  forth  to  the  people,  to  see  if  they  would 
ruej  on  Him  when  they  saw  His  bloody  shoulders. 
They  might  have  said,  **Poor  Man,  thou  art  ill  enough 
handled  else,  for  aught  that  thou  hast  done  ! "  But 
these  hell's  hounds  would  have  His  heart's  blood,  and 
His  life,  or  nothing.  And  your  Husband  said, 
^^Amen,''  to  it,  for  the  love  He  did  bear  to  you,  and 
for  all  that  God  had  done  to  Him — ''Be  it  so.  Amen, 
Father:' 

What  a  sight  was  innocent  and  harmless  Jesus  when 
He  stood  before  the  Governor,  and  had  not  one  word 
to  say !  They  laid  thieves'  bands  on  our  Saviour's 
hands,  that  had  never  stolen,  that  had  never  shed 
blood.  Bands  bound  His  hands,  but  love,  mercy,  and 
grace  bound  His  tender  heart  with  stronger  bands  and 
cords,  to  loose  us  out  of  the  bands  of  sin.  He  cried 
in  the  Spirit,  "  Father,  bind  Me,  and  loose  them ;  slay 
Me,  and  save  them.  All  their  ill  be  upon  Me."  So 
be  it,  dear  Jestis! 

Christ  cried  with  a  loud  voice  in  death,  "  Father, 
into  Thy  ha?ids  I  commend  My  Spirit!'  Then  our  Lord 


Repents.  t  Ventured  ;  spent. 

I  Repent  of  their  treatment  of  iiir.i. 


286  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


died ;  because  it  was  His  will.  Death  could  not  bind 
Him,  but  love  to  His  wife  bound  Him.  Love  is 
stronger  than  death ;  nay,  love  was  as  strong  as  Christ. 
The  law  was  weak  now,  for  Christ  satisfied  it;  and 
now  it  has  no  power  over  you.  Ye  are  in  Christ;  and 
He  is  a  better  Master  than  the  law.  Change  not  with 
any  Master  again.  Follow  Him  all  the  way  to  heaven. 
Christ's  new  love  got  a  wissil"^  in  His  blessed  manhood. 

How  do  ye  since  ye  married  Christ  last  ?  Tell  your 
mind  of  Christ.  Let  faith  speak,  let  love  speak  of 
slain  Christ  Jesus ;  of  His  kissing  you.  Ye  are  now 
at  Christ's  pierced  side ;  get  heaven  and  mercy  when 
Christ  has  the  cross  on  His  back. 

Was  not  Christ's  love-tocherf  good  enough.  O  ! 
what  is  sewed  J  and  covered  up  in  Christ's  love ! 
Come,  and  press  His  love,  and  get  heaven  and  glory 
out  of  it.  Live  on  His  love,  and  you  are  wholly  fed. 
Lie  on  His  love,  and  that  is  a  sweet  bed.  Ride  on 
His  love,  and  it  shall  carry  you  through  hell  and 
death,  and  every  evil  way.  That  which  Christ  has 
dear  bought,  He  vnW  not  want.  Ye  are  sold  over  to  a 
Lord  that  will  not  want  you,  but  will  have  you.  Make 
no  merchandise  va\h  any  other.  He  rues  not :  why 
should  ye  rue  ? 

Mount  Calvary,  since  God  laid  the  first  stone  of  it, 
did  never  bear  such  a  weight  as  when  the  Lord  of 
Glory  was  hanging  upon  a  tree  there — O  !  it  was  made 
a  fair  tree  when  such  an  Apple  grew  on  it !  It  was  a 
green  orchard !  It  was  our  summer,  but  death's 
winter !  Darkness  was  in  all  Judea  when  our  Lord 
suffered.  And  why?  Because  the  Candle  that  lighted 
the  sun  and  the  moon  was  blown  out.      The  God- 


Wistle,  or  wissil,  means  '•Exchange" — a  Dutch  word. 
+  Marriage  dowry.  %  Shewed,  in  some  copies. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  ggy 


head  was  eclipsed ;  and  the  world's  eye  was  put  out. 
He  took  away  the  sun  with  Him,  as  it  were,  to  another 
world,  when  He  that  was  the  world's  sun  was  put  out. 
When  He  went  out  of  the  earth,  the  sun  would  not 
stay  behind  Him.  Sun,  what  ails  thee ?  "I  have 
not  will  to  shine  when  my  Lord  is  going  to  another 
world."  As  if  the  sun  had  said  to  Jesus,  "  Lord,  if 
Thou  be  going  to  another  world,  take  me  ^vith  You." 
The  dead  come  out  of  the  grave  to  welcome  Christ's 
death.  Life  itself  was  coming  to  the  grave,  and  there- 
fore the  graves  opened,  the  dead  lived;  the  bairns 
sprang  and  started  in  their  mother's  belly.  Why  ? 
Because  the  Lord  of  Life  was  coming  to  the  grave. 
The  dead  wondered,  to  see  Life  coming  down  among 
them.  He  went  before-hand,  to  sponge*  death  and 
corruption  for  you. 

Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  with  such  a  shout  as 
never  before  went  to  heaven.  The  Son,  crying  to  the 
Father,  shouting  with  tears  and  strong  cries,  '*  Father, 
Father,  God's  mercy !"  O  what  a  oxy  would  all  believers 
have  made  in  hell,  if  Christ  had  not  cried.  Ye  had 
been  always  crying.  But  O  what  afrayt  was  there !  God 
weeping,  God  sobbing  under  the  w^ater !  Never  was 
there  such  a  fray  in  heaven,  and  earth,  either  before, 
or  shall  be  after.  Angels  might  have  quaked,  if  they 
be  capable  of  such  passion.  They  might  have  said, 
''  Alas  !  What  ails  our  dear  Lord  and  Master  to  cry 
so  hideously?"  Christ  worriedt  on  a  piece  of  tree! 
He  who  takes  up  the  isles  of  the  sea  as  a  little  thing ; 
yea,  He  who  can  take  up  heaven  and  earth  with  a 
touch  of  His  little  finger !  He  who  can  weigh  the 
mountains  in  a  balance  !     O  what  a  set§  was  it  to 


Wipe  out  completely.     +  Conflict.     %  Harassed  and  torn. 
^  Onset. 


288  COMMUNIOJSr  SERMONS. 


Christ's  back  and  His  fillets  !^"  No  wonder  ;  there  was 
more  than  a  tree  upon  His  back.  The  curse  of  the 
law  of  God  was  above  the  tree ;  and  that  was  heavier 
than  ten  thousand  mountains  of  iron.  Ah !  A  wonder 
His  back  brake  not  in  twa,  and  all  His  bones  were 
not  crushed  with  it ! 

Christ  cries,  ^'  I  thirstr 

^^  I  thirst r — No  wonder;  there  was  a  fire  in  His 
soul.  Such  a  furnace,  that  would  have  dried  up  the 
sea,  and  all  the  waters  of  it.  Cast  a  coal  of  God's 
wrath  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  it  would  soon  suck 
it  all  up  if  there  were  as  much  water  as  might  lie  be- 
twixt the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens: 
between  the  east  point  of  heaven,  and  the  west  point 
of  heaven.  The  pure  unmixed  Avrath  of  God  would 
drink  it  all  dry  in  a  moment.  All  the  wells  in  the 
earth  set  to  Christ's  mouth  could  not  have  quenched 
His  thirst.  A  drink  of  His  Father's  well  was  that 
which  cooled  His  burnt  and  dried  soul.  Christ  cried, 
*'  My  soul  is  heavy  tmto  death.  Sorrow  is  like  to  kill 
Me  !  Fear  and  horror  is  like  to  break  My  heart  ! " 
**  What,  dear  Lord  Jesus,  art  Thou  ruing  the  voyage  ? 
Wouldst  Thou  cast  Thy  bargain?"  *'  No,  no,  but  it 
is  a  bargain  of  sorrow  to  Me.  It's  a  sad  cup."  O  ! 
I  see  an  ugly  sight !  I  see  the  Lord  covered  with 
wrath  1  I  see  a  fire,  greater  than  if  you  put  all  the  fires 
in  hell  in  one  !  And  the  Lord  has  made  Me,  poor  Me, 
greeting,!  weak  Me,  His  contrary  party. |  The  Lord 
is  running  upon  Me  like  a  giant.  My  martyrs  and 
My  servants  sing  and  rejoice  at  the  gibbet  and  fire; 
but  I  weep,  I  lie  sad  and  dreary,  mine  alone  § — Why  ? 
Because  My  Lord  is  away. 

*  *'  Fillets,"  his  thighs  or  loins.  t  Weeping  me. 

Has  dealt  with  me  as  an  enemy.  §  I  being  all  alone. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  ^89 


O  wells  !  O  lochs  !  O  running  streams  !  Where 
were  you  all  when  my  Lord  could  not  get  a  drink  ? 
Oh  fie  on  all  Jerusalem  !  For  there  was  wine  enough 
in  Jerusalem,  and  yet  their  King,  Jesus,  is  burnt  like  a 
keel-stick.  ^  O  wells,  what  ails  you  at  your  Lord 
Jesus?  The  wells  and  lochs  answer,  *^Alas!  We 
dare  not  know  Him;  the  Lord  hath  laid  a  fencet  upon 
us ;  we  are  arrested  ;|  we  dare  not  serve  our  Master." 
Is  there  any  cooling  in  all  Judea  ?  Or  is  there  any 
room  ?  Yea,  there  are  tables  full  of  vomit ;  but  our 
Lord  was  forced  to  take  a  good-night  of  the  creature, 
with  a  nay-say.  §  Oh  !  to  hear  the  wells  say,  "  We  will 
give  Herod  and  Pilate  a  drink,  but  we  will  give  Christ 
none."  Yea,  give  me  leave  to  say  there  is  none  on 
earth  brewen  for  Christ;  nothing  but  a  drink  of  gall  and 
vinegar !  The  wells  say,  "  We  will  give  oxen  and 
horses  drink ;  but  never  a  drop  for  the  Lord  of  glory." 
For  all  His  service  done  at  Jerusalem;  for  all  His 
good  preaching ;  for  all  His  glorious  miracles — not  so 
much  as  a  drop  of  cold  water !  Fie  on  you,  famous 
Jerusalem!  Is  your  stipend  this?  Is  this  your 
reward  to  your  great  High  Priest  ?  No,  not  so  much 
as  the  beggar's  courtesy,  a  drink  of  cold  water,  to  your 
dear  Redeemer,  Jesus !  But  by  this,  Christ  has  bought 
drink  for  all  believers. 

Jesus  ^^ gave  up  the  ghost ^^ 

O  Life !  wouldst  thou  bear  that  blessed  Body  no 
longer  company  ?  O  Life  of  Life !  wouldst  thou  be 
death's  taken  prisoner?  Oh !  to  see  that  blessed  Head 
fall  to  the  one  side  !  Oh  !  to  see  Life  wanting  life  1 
To  see  Life  lying  dead  !  To  see  that  blessed  mouth 
silent !     To  see  that  fair  corpse  rolled  in  linen,  and 

*  Cabbage  stock.  t  Authoritatively  forbidden. 

X  Stopped  by  warrant.  §  Denial. 

T 


2^0  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


laid  in  a  tomb  !  Oh  !  to  see  sweet  Jesus,  that  blessed 
Body  in  Joseph's  arms !  Come  hither,  come  hither, 
believers,  and  see  a  sight  that  ye  never  saw  the  like 
of !  Oh,  what  would  the  disciples  say,  but  that,  "  We 
are  beguiled  men  !  We  thought  that  He  should  have 
restored  the  kingdom  to  Israel ;  and  now  He  is  gone 
away ;  and  now  He  is  dead,  that  raised  Lazarus  from 
the  grave/'  Oh,  angels  would  think  '^Our  Master  is 
dead."  Meikle^  scant  of  life  in  the  world  (might  one 
say),  before  He  should  have  died  for  want !  The 
whole  guard  about  Christ  might  say,  ''  Oh  what  evil 
hath  He  done  ?  "  O  sun !  why  wouldest  not  thou  lend 
Him  light?  He  never  angered  thee,  but  gave  thee 
light !  O  floods,  O  rivers,  O  running  streams  !  what 
has  thus  angered  you  at  your  Creator,  that  ye  would 
not  send  your  Lord  a  drink  ?  O  bread  !  why  art  thou 
gall  to  Him  ?  O  drink !  why  to  Him  vinegar  ?  O 
worldly  pomp  and  glory,  what  ails  you  at  Him — that 
He  is  so  ashamed  ?  O  Life,  where  goest  thou  ?  Why 
leavest  thou  the  Lord  of  Life  !  O  joys  !  why  would 
ye  not  cheer  Him  ?  O  disciples,  why  left  ye  Him,  and 
forsook  Him  ?  O  Father,  what  ails  Thee  at  Thy  dear 
and  only  Son  ?  O  what  evil  way  went  these  feet,  that 
they  are  pierced  ?  What  evil  have  these  hands  done 
that  they  are  pierced  ?  O  what  evil,  and  what  vanity 
did  these  eyes  behold,  that  death  has  closed  them? 
O  what  sin  hath  that  fair  face  done,  that  it  is  spitted 
on?  O  what  did  these  hands  steal,  that  they  are 
bound?  O  what  evil  has  that  blessed  Head  done, 
that  it  is  crowned  with  thorns  ? 

*  Much  scarcity  of  life. 


SERMON      XIII. 

^hc  Jiiaiub's  ^]^arria3C. 

*'^Lit  us  be  glad  and  rejoice^  and  give  honour  to  Him:  for  the 
marriage  of  the  Lainb  is  come,  and  His  ivifc  hath  made 
herself  ready ^'''    ^c. — Revelation  xix.    7,  8,  9,   10,   11,  12, 

THIS  text  has  three  parts,  i.  The  Kh'k's  triumph 
under  the  Antichrist's  persecution,  in  the  7th, 
8th,  and  9th  verses.  2.  John's  fall  in  worshipping  the 
Angel.  3.  A  new  revelation,  wherein  Christ  and  His 
members  are  seen  triumphing,  which  contains  a 
glorious  description  of  Christ.  I  take  not  this  abso- 
lutely to  be  the  victory  and  triumph  of  the  kirk 
triumphant  in  heaven,  but  it  is  the  joy  of  the  kirk  on 
earth,  groaning  and  longing  for  the  marriage  day. 

In  the  7th  verse  is  contained  an  exhortation  to  be 
glad  and  rejoice^^  with  thanksgiving  and  two  reasons 
of  it,  *'  The  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  His 
wife  hath  made  herself  ready.''  Here  is  a  question  in 
the  entry  :  Is  there  not  a  time  to  rejoice,  and  a  time 
to  mourn  ?  It  is  not  rather  a  time  for  the  church  to 
mourn  and  be  sad  (chap,  xii.)  The  Kirk,  the  poor 
woman  with  child,  hard  at  the  down-lying  (travailing). 


*A  Sermon  preached  before  the  celebration  of  the   Lord's 
Supper,  at  Kirkcudbright,  June  20, 1634. 


292 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


and  has  not  an  hour's  reckoning,  is  chased  by  the 
dragon  to  the  wilderness.  But  in  chap,  xiv.,  a  judgment 
is  denounced;  chap,  xvi.,  the  arrows  of  God^s  wrath  are 
going  through  all  the  earth,  a  great  din  and  hurlie- 
burlie  in  the  Kirk.  But  in  chap.  xix.  7 ,  the  Kirk  is  brought 
in  singing  and  rejoicing.  Hence  let  the  world  turn 
upside  down,  and  come  as  it  will,  the  saints  will  get  a 
life  of  it.  They  are  God's  birds  that  sing  in  the  winter, 
for  the  time  is  come.  Isaiah  liv.  i,  **Sing,  O  barren, 
thou  that  didst  not  bear  ;  break  forth  into  singing,"  &c. 
And  yet  they  are  captives  and  banished  people  in  the 
meantime.  Zechariah  ix.  9,  ^'  Rejoice  greatly,  O 
Jerusalem,  shout,  behold  thy  king  cometh,"  and  yet 
they  had  not  a  king  at  all,  but  were  **  in  the  pit  where 
was  no  water ;  "  they  were  in  bondage.  So  in  Isaiah 
xl.  I,  when  the  people  were  under  the  water,  "  Comfort 
ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  says  the  Lord.  Speak  com- 
fortably to  Jerusalem."  When  the  day  is  fair,  and  the 
spirit  flows,  and  the  wind  is  in  the  west,  we  can  all 
then  sing  and  rejoice,  and  believe.  If  God  would  each 
hour  of  the  day  come,  and  take  His  children  on  His 
knees,  and  lay  their  head  in  His  bosom,  saying,  "Weep 
not,  hold  your  tongue,"  we  could  all  then  sing  and  re- 
joice, and  believe.  But  we  must  make  a  window  in  our 
prison,  and  look  out  and  see  daylight,  and  the  Bride- 
groom coming,  and  rejoice  beforehand.  We  are  like 
fools  and  spilt^'  bairns,  taking  offence  at  our  Lord,  and, 
like  Jacob,!  will  not  be  comforted.  Our  Lord  cannot 
get  us  drawn  to  the  house  of  wine  to  take  a  cup  of 
consolation.  But  we  must  learn  to  sing  when  God 
bids  us.  If  the  winter  night  were  never  so  dark, 
beUevers  must  aye  rejoice.  Therefore  rejoice,  my 
dearly  beloved,  for  we  will  get  dayaboutj  yet  when  the 

*  Spoilt,     t  Genesis  xxxvii.  35.     %  It  will  be  our  turn  next. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  293 


marriage  day  is  come.  Luke  vi.  23,  "Rejoice  for 
that  day/'  and  leap  for  joy  every  day,  (verse  25),  even 
when  they  hate  you  and  separate  you  from  their  com- 
pany. "  When  these  things  shall  come  to  pass,  then 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads,  for  the  day  of  your 
redemption  draweth  near"  (Luke  xxi.  28).  They  were 
casting  down  their  heads;  but  faith  must  rejoice  in 
the  hope  of  an  out-get* 

"  Let  us  give  hojioiir  to  Hhn'^ — Joy  should  not  want 
praise.  Alas  !  we  rejoice  in  ourselves  and  not  in  God. 
It  is  a  bastard  joy  that  is  enjoyed  without  praise, 
Psalm  xxxiii.  i,  2,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord,  ye  righteous; 
praise  the  Lord  with  harp."  In  i  Thess.  v.  16,  the 
apostle  couples  these  together,  "Rejoice  evermore, 
pray  without  ceasing,  in  all  things  give  thanks."  It  is 
double  music  in  heaven  that  wants  t  praising  of  Him 
who  sits  on  the  throne.  Our  Lord  gets  often  deaf  nuts 
from  us  in  our  spiritual  joy.  We  take  joy  as  a  breakfast 
to  cheer  up  our  foolish  sense,  and  sit  down  upon  our  joy, 
and  whine  as  we  do.  So  we  wrong  our  Lord  when 
our  joy  bringeth  not  forth  thanksgiving.  It  is  not 
enough  to  rejoice  that  ye  hope  to  get  a  kiss  of  Christ 
in  ordinances,  except  ye  come  to  this,  to  give  Him  a 
sacrifice  of  praise.  We  often  draw  our  joy  home  to 
ourselves,  and  make  Christ  a  babe  to  play  ourselves 
with,  and  feed  our  foolish  sense.  Were  we  thankful, 
and  did  refer  all  our  sense  to  praising,  we  would  not 
get  so  many  hungry  meals. 

But  what  is  the  matter  ?  Wherefore  are  we  bidden 
rejoice  and  be  glad?  The  Kirk  speaks  her  words  with 
a  warrant,  "Know  ye  no  better  nor  so?  Have  we  not 
good  cause  to  rejoice?     Is  not  the  Lamb's  marriage 

*  An  out-gate — a  coming  out  in  triumph, 
t  That  aims  at  the  praise  of  Him, 


294 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


come?"  Then  nothing  more  feeds  the  soul  of  the 
godly  with  delight  than  this,  that  the  marriage  day  is 
come,  and  is  at  hand.  It  is  something  worth  indeed, 
that  the  poor  widow,  the  Kirk,  has  married  so  rich  a 
husband ;  ''  for  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness 
thereof  (Psalm  xxiv).  Ye  need  not  fear  scant,  ^"  nor 
that  Christ  will  scale  f  house. 

^*  The  maiTiage  is  comer — It  is  not  simply  the 
glorified  in  heaven,  but  the  time  when  God  will 
make  good  all  His  promises  to  His  Kirk  in  Christ. 
Say  ye,  was  not  this  marriage  of  the  Lamb  before? 
Yea,  was  not  Christ  His  Kirk's  husband,  and  her 
well-beloved  from  the  beginning  ?  Answer,  In  God's 
purpose.  He  was  from  eternity  the  King,  Lord,  and 
Husband  of  His  Kirk;  but  for  the  going  out  of  the 
marriage,  we  are  to  know  that  the  Kirk  was  suited  % 
and  wooed  long  before  the  marriage.  Christ  takes  not 
His  wife  at  the  first  blink,  as  Samson  fell  in  love  with 
his  wife.  But  He  married  with  advisement  so  to 
speak.  He  and  His  Kirk  are  thrice  lawfully  pro- 
claimed in  the  preached  gospel;  there  are  meetings 
and  communings  about  the  heads  of  the  contract, 
wherein  Christ  tells  of  His  own  excellencies,  and  the 
worth  of  His  Father's  glory,  and  what  mansions  are 
above.  As  long  as  the  first  husband  lives  (the  law 
our  first  husband)  Christ  does  not  marry  (Rom.  vii. 
i).  If  ye  and  the  world  be  hand-fastened  §  together, 
that  marriage  must  be  divorced,  or  else  He  will  not 
look  on  that  side  of  the  house  that  ye  are  in.  Before 
it  came  to  this,  ''  Even  so  I  take  her,"  Christ  made 
three  journies  to  His  wife:  i.  When  He  came  in  the 
flesh  He  wooed  sinners  and  offered  Himself  to  the 

*  Want.     +  Skail ;  leave  the  house  He  has  once  occupied. 
X  Sought  in  marriage.  §  Contracted  in  marriage. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  295 


world.  2.  After  His  Ascension  to  heaven  He  comes 
another  journey,  by  His  Spirit,  in  His  ministers  who 
preach  the  gospel.  So  Paul  betrothed  to  a  new 
husband.  *  3.  He  will  come  again  at  the  last  day, 
and  complete  the  marriage.  I  suspect  a  hasty  mamage 
to  be  a  sudden  vengeance;  men  and  women  fly  to 
Christ,  and  flock  to  ordinances,  to  eat  and  drink  with 
Him,  or  t  ever  He  woo  them.  Many  come  to  take 
Christ,  and  have  another  husband  at  home,  the  world 
and  your  lusts.  That  is  foul  play:  you  must  be  single, 
or  else  ye  cannot  marry  Him.  I  will  ask  at  all  of 
you  that  are  come  here  this  day,  if  your  husband,  the 
world,  be  dead  ?  Try  if  your  lusts  be  dead^  and  sin 
mortified;  otherwise  look  for  no  match  with  Christ. 
If  the  world  and  you  are  as  great  t  as  ever  you  were, 
I  shall  not  believe  that  Christ  and  you  are  in  the  way 
of  marriage.  They  that  are  married  to  Christ  have 
been  cast  down,  wintered  and  summered,  burnt  and 
scalded,  and  can  tell  you  what  God's  anger  is,  and 
what  a  strange  put  §  the  love  of  Christ  has  to  make. 
Loathe  at  sin  and  all  other  things. 

"  His  wife  hath  7nade  herself  ready P — How  makes 
the  Kirk,  the  Lamb's  wife,  herself  ready  ?  In  Col.  i. 
1 2,  it  is  said,  ^'  Giving  of  thanks  to  the  Father,  who 
hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light."  Doth  not  God  here  readily 
answer  both  as  true?  God  draws  and  we  run;  for 
God  and  we  meet  not  against  our  will,  as  Simon 
carried  Christ's  cross;  nor  as  Balaam's  ass  spake  that 
knew  not  what  he  spake;  nor  as  the  lilies  grow  and 
labour  not,  and  yet  are  better  clothed  than  Solomon 


*  2  Cor.  xi.  2.  +  Ere  ever.  %  Great  friends. 

§  ^^Ftit;^^  a  thrust,  and  sometimes  a  jettee  of  stones  set  to 
alter  the  course  of  a  stream. 


296  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


was.     Our  Lord  has  our  heart  in  His  hand,  as  man's 

way  is  with  wax  before  the  fire, '"  to  wring  and  work  it 
as  he  pleaseth,  and  to  set  the  stamp  on  the  man's 
heart.  He  puts  on  the  stamp  as  the  wax  receiveth 
it;  a  stone  would  not  receive  it.  The  man  blows 
the  trumpet,  but  all  the  sound  comes  from  the  man's 
breath.  The  ship  sails;  the  pilot  fills  not  the  sails, 
but  it  is  the  wind  that  fills  the  sails.  Our  Lord  begins 
and  works  upon  the  will  and  the  heart,  and  changes 
it,  and  lets  us  see  the  excellency  of  our  new  husband 
and  lord.  And  when  we  ''  make  ourselves  ready ^^  we 
follow  on  to  the  smell  of  His  garments.  If  God  draw 
and  ye  stand  still,  if  God  blow  upon  you,  and  strive 
and  work  and  cast  you  down,  and  ye  are  as  hard  as 
a  rock  or  a  stone  under  His  hand,  you  have  not 
''  made  yourselves  ready;"  so  ye  are  not  at  all  married 
to  Christ.  O,  my  dearly  beloved,  make  some  pre- 
paration, less  or  more,  for  Him.  Ye  must  be  changed 
and  mansweart  your  old  Adam,  and  forget  your 
father's  house,  cast  off  your  ilk-day  J  garment  and 
get  a  wedding  garment.  And  think  not  that  Christ 
and  your  old  ragged  garments,  your  lusts,  will  agree 
together. 

Many  on  the  other  hand,  hearing  that  there  must 
be  a  preparation  for  the  marriage^  and  that  they  must 
not  come  to  Christ  in  their  sin  and  guilt,  and  not 
knowing  that  He  is  angry,  especially  after  a  great  out- 
cast, §  will  stand  far  off  from  Christ  and  not  seek  after 
Him,  because  not  prepared.  *^  The  La7nb's  Wife  doth 
make  herself  ready'' — But  I  have  not  made  myself 
ready ;  (say  ye)  nay,  I  know  not  but  if  I  go  in  my 

*  The  old  copy  has,  **as  a  man's  way,"  omitting  **\\dth 
wax."  t  Renounce  by  oath. 

%  Clothes  worn  on  ordinary  days.  §  Quarrel. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  297 


guilt,  I  shall  be  put  away  in  His  anger.  And  there 
ye  stick,  like  a  ship,  on  the  sand-bed  of  fears  and 
doubtings,  lest  God  be  angry;  and  not  a  foot  can  ye 
win  nearer  to  Christ. 

What,  then,  shall  unprepared  souls  do  under  these 
doubtings,  especially  under  challenges  for  unrepented 
of  sins  that  anger  Christ  ?  I  shall  labour  to  answer 
what  troubles  such  and  hinders  their  humble  setting 
to,*  and  coming  away.  i.  They  are  troubled  about 
Christ's  nature.  2.  About  their  warrant  to  come  un- 
prepared. And  3.  They  are  troubled  with  Satan  and 
the  Law  of  God.  "  As  for  Christ "  (say  they)  "  it  is 
a  needless  errand;  I  will  not  amend  myself,  such  an 
unprepared  soul  as  I  am."  Answer,  Go  for^vard  till  f 
locked  doors  hold  you  again.  You  can  have  no  less 
than  you  have ;  it  is  but  that  much  lost  travel.  Say  ye, 
*' It  is  a  needless  errand;  I  will  not  mind  myself 
A^iswer,  The  sluggard  tells  aye  his  answer  before  he 
goes  his  errand.  The  knavish  servant's  excuse  is  aye, 
when  he  is  sent  an  errand,  ^^  There  is  a  lion  in  the  way." 
What  if  ye  find  an  open  door,  and  Christ  coming  out  to 
meet  you  mid-way?  Christ  played  as  merciful  a  sport 
to  the  forlorn  son.  '^Ay,  but  I  see  fire  and  sword 
when  I  come  to  the  door,  how  shall  I  go  in?" 
Answer.  What  if  it  be  a  false  glass  wherein  ye  see  ? 
When  sinners  would  be  at  Christ,  He  never  holds  out 
fire  and  sword  to  chase  them  away :  that  is  but  Satan's 
fire  and  sword  that  fears  you.  I  love  that  (warrant) 
yet  the  better  that  the  devil  opposes  it;  but  I  say, 
though  Christ  gloom  %  on  you,  as  on  the  woman  of 


*  Making  an  effort. 

t  In  old  copy,  "  Will."     But  e\idently  the  sense  is,  *'  Go  on 
till  you  are  shut  out — till  locked  doors  hold  against  you.'* 
1  FrowTi. 


298  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


Canaan,  yet  go  fonvard;  they  are  sweet  coals  that 
burn  a  soul  flightering  ^  to  be  at  Christ.  That  fire 
will  never  be  your  death.  When  want  of  preparation 
holds  a  man  from  Christ,  it  is  of  the  devil.  Men  take 
Christ  to  be  proud,  when  it  is  themselves ;  they  are 
proud  and  will  not  go  to  Christ  till  they  can  give  Him 
a  meeting,  and  buy  mercy.  Nay,  you  are  to  go  with- 
out money;  that  is  a  better  market.  O  !  think  ye 
shame  to  be  in  Christ's  common  ?  t 

2nd.  Oh,  says  the  soul,  "  I  want  a  warrant ;  it  is 
presumption  to  go  to  Christ  with  such  a  backful  of 
guilt  as  I  have."  Ansiver,  I  say  it  is  both  pride  and 
presumption  to  bide  away.  I  hope  you  will  not  trust 
in  yourselves  or  your  own  strength;  you  are  doing  so, 
or  else  you  would  not  complain  of  your  being  unpre- 
pared as  ye  do.  Lean  but  to  Christ,  and  then  complain 
not,  but  presume  your  fill  on  Him,  providing  you  think 
yourself  unworthy  of  Him.  It  is  not  presumption  to 
take  a  grip  of  Christ's  naked  sword,  though  it  should  cut 
your  hand.  *^  Oh,"  says  the  soul,  "  you  have  not  told 
me  of  a  warrant  to  rush  in  unprepared  to  an  angry 
Christ."  Would  ye  have  a  warrant?  there  it  is;  the 
beggars  warrant  is  as  good  as  I  would  wish.  His 
warrant  and  testimonial  to  a  beggar  is  a  lame  leg,  a 
cripple  hand,  a  hungry  belly,  a  bare  back,  that  is 
good  reason  and  cause  for  him.  So  I  say,  have  ye 
a  hungering  and  longing  desire  after  Him  ?  Or  know 
ye  that  ye  are  unprepared,  that  is,  a  cripple  both  of 
legs  and  arms?  That  is  a  notable  warrant  to  go  to 
Christ.  "  Oh,  but,"  says  the  soul,  "  I  have  not  a 
promise,  I  have  not  the  Covenant  to  take  with  me, 
and  for  want  of  faith  I  have  lost  the  promise." 
Answer.  The  Covenant  is  twice  written,  God  has  a 

*  Fluttering.  t  To  be  under  obligation  to  Christ, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  299 


copy,  the  principal  is  in  His  hand  and  mind,  and 
ye  have  a  copy  in  yoiu*  heart.  If  ye  have  lost  your 
double,*^  what  then?  Says  Christ,  My  copy  is  to  the 
fore.t  The^Covenant  stability  is  to  the  fore,  it  stands; 
not  in  this  that  ye  shall  evermore t  believe;  there  is 
no  such  covenant  as  that,  yourselves  have  made  that 
covenant  and  not  Christ.  Let  me  see  such  a  covenant  as 
this,  that  all  that  doubt  and  say,  they  are  unprepared  for 
Christ  should  bide  away,  and  never  come  to  Christ,  till 
they  be  prepared  to  come,  and  are  ready  as  the  Lamb's 
wife  is  for  her  marriage.  Yet,  says  the  soul,  "  the 
warrant  is  not  sure.  It  is  hell  and  utter  darkness  to 
come  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  without  a 
wedding  garment  (Matt.  xxii.  12),  and  so  unprepared 
as  I  am."  Ansiuer,  That  man  cared  not  how  he 
came;  he  took  no  care  of  a  wedding  garment;  he 
had  not  so  much  as  a  hungering  for  Christ,  which  is 
the  beggar's  warrant,  as  you  have  heard.  But  let  us 
reason  thus;  if  that  ye  grant  ye  are  unprepared,  and 
that  ye  want  much  that  ye  should  have,  ye  think  it 
is  death  to  go  to  Christ  ?  I  say,  it  is  death  to  bide 
away,  and  the  gi*eatest  death  of  the  two.  A  man 
chased  by  his  enemies  on  death  and  life  has  but  two 
ways  to  flee  to ;  either  to  the  fire  or  to  the  water. 
If  he  be  wise  he  will  take  himself  to  the  water,  and 
not  to  the  fire,  where  he  may  swim ;  the  water  may  cast 
him  out.  The  water  is  the  little  death,  fire  is  the 
meikle  death.  To  abide  still  in  sin,  and  never  to 
come  to  Christ  is  fire ;  choose  it  not.  To  come  to 
Christ  with  a  hungering  heart  is  the  little  death. 
There  is  hope  of  mercy  in  dying  in  the  presuming 


Your  copy  of  it.  t  Is  still  remaining. 

X  Have  a  faith  that  never  wavers. 


300 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


hand,  upon  the  point  of  Christ's  sword.  When  ye 
come  to  Christ,  it  is  life  if  ye  long  for  Him. 

3rd.  When  the  devil  and  the  law  challenge  you, 
then  show  Christ's  blood;  that  is,  God's  great  seal, 
against  the  which,  to  speak  so,  is  treason.  If  they  say 
ye  believe  not,  answer  ye  them ;  despair  not. 

Verse  8. — "  To  her  it  was  gra7ited  that  she  should  he 
arrayed  in  fine  lijien.^^ — Wherefrom  comes  this  pre- 
paration? It  is  God's  free  gift  in  Christ;  all  is  on 
Christ's  charges  and  expenses.  The  fine  linen  is 
Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  saints,  a  web  of 
Christ's  own  making.  It  cost  Him  dear  or  ever  it 
came  on  our  backs;  velvets,  silks,  king's  parliament 
robes,  clothes  of  gold,  are  nothing  in  comparison  to 
this  web,  v/oven  out  of  Christ's  own  bowels  and  heart- 
blood.  We  are  unworthy  of  Him;  all  that  we  can  do 
or  say  here  is  with  a  borrowed  tongue.  When  we  say, 
"  Even  so  I  take  Him,"  it  was  with  a  borrowed  hand; 
for  faith  is  not  ours,  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  to  put  on 
the  fine  linen.  All  this  says  that  we  are  unworthy  of 
Christ ;  if  ye  were  worthy,  slain  Christ  would  not  be 
your  husband.  Christ  is  a  Saviour  and  Redeemer 
from  head  to  foot,  all  made  up  of  free  grace,  giving 
His  blood,  merits,  and  righteousness  to  His  Kirk  for 
stark  nought.  Men  shape  a  sort  of  a  Christ  of  their 
o\vn  making;  not  Christ  but  an  idol;  a  Christ  that 
will  not  ken  ^  a  man,  except  he  get  a  meeting  of 
holiness  and  righteousness  in  him,  that  is  a  Christ  of 
your  own  making;  but  the  true  Christ  that  God  gave 
unto  the  world  will  either  marry  with  a  beggar  or 
none.  It  is  His  honour  to  match  with  "  captives  and 
prisoners"  (Isa.  Ixi.  i);  "the  sick  that  need  the 
physician"  (Matt.   ix.    12);   "sinners  that  are  lost" 

Own;  acknowledge  as  His. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  30 1 


(Luke  xix.  10);  *4he  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt  and 
bhnd"  (xiv.  21);  "the  beggars  and  dyvers  "^  of  the 
world;"  "the  weary  laden"  (Matt.  xi.  28);  "the 
thirsty,  and  those  that  have  no  money"  (Isa.  Iv.  i) ; 
"  the  wretched,  blind,  poor,  and  miserable,  and  naked  " 
(Rev.  iii.  17);  "the  silly,  halting,  cripple  kirk"  (Micah 
iv.  7). 

The  fine  linen  white  and  dean,  the  righteousness  of 
saints^ — These  are  the  properties  of  the  linen  which 
is  Christ's  righteousness,  His  perfect  obedience,  and 
sufferings.  It  is  not  gross  and  round  spun ;  there  is 
not  a  spot  in  it.  I.  Christ  gave  as  much  to  God  as 
He  desired.  The  law  cries,  "  With  all  the  heart, 
soul,  and  strength."  Christ  answers,  Psalm  xl.  8,  "  / 
delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  God  !  Thy  law  is  within  My 
heart J^  Christ  gives  God  lucky f  heaped  measure;  not 
a  penny  that  sinners  took  from  God,  but  Christ  re- 
stored a  pound  for  it  again.  Nay,  I  say,  if  man  had 
never  sinned,  God  would  never  have  given  such  a 
market.  X  Our  righteousness  would  aye  have  been  but 
man's  righteousness,  which  is  gross  and  rund-spun§  in 
comparison  of  this.  H.  As  for  Christ's  sufferings 
there  was  not  a  crack ||  in  them.  Christ  stood  still;  He 
never  winked  or  mintedH  to  take  away  His  head  ;  He 
did  never  jouk,**  or  lout,tt  to  miss  a  cuff.  J :{:  He  would 
not  ware§§  a  stroke  off  Himself.  Isaiah  1.  6,  "  I  gave 
My  back  to  the  smiters,  and  My  cheeks  to  them  that 
plucked  off  the  hair."  Our  dear  Redeemer  was 
like   no   others.     Few  lose  a  cause  with  their  will. 

*  Bankrupt  debtors.  t  Lticky  is  plentiful ;  abundant. 

X  In  the  old  copy  this  sentence  is  confused  ;  but  the  correction 
of  two  words  has  made  it  plain. 

§  A  rund  is  a  shred  or  selvage  cloth  spun  out  of  mere  shreds. 
No  flaw.        ^   Attempted.        **  Shrink,  by  turning  aside. 


302  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


But  Christ  was  content  that  a  decreet  went  against 
Him,  and  that  the  law  should  seize  on  Him.  He 
purposed  to  pay,  and  not  miscount;  He  took  the 
strokes  till  God  said  it  was  enough,  ^^  it  is  finished.'' 
So  His  righteousness  will  do  our  turn,  being  clean, 
white,  and  fine.  Then,  when  ye  have  put  on  this 
clean  fine  linen,  keep  it  clean  and  white;  spark'-*  no 
dirt  on  Christ's  righteousness.  "  Be  ye  as  holy  as  He 
is  holy."  We  are  all  ready  to  filef  our  new  clothes 
after  we  have  put  them  on.  Ezekiel  must  have  a 
watchword,  Ezekiel  ii.  8,  "  Son  ot  man,  be  not  rebel- 
lious like  the  rebellious  house."  Isaiah  viii.  ii,  "  The 
Lord  instructed  me,  that  I  should  not  walk  in  the 
way  of  this  people."  When  we  have  put  on  this  fine 
linen,  temptations  (the  devil's  dogs)  are  hounded  out 
against  us,  to  rivej  our  clothes.  This  world  is  a 
smoky  room,  a  filthy  house.  What  are  malice,  pride, 
love  to  the  world,  security,  and  avarice,  but  the  devil's 
smoky  walls,  that  we  should  keep  ourselves  from. 

Verse  9,  ''He  saith  to  me,  write,  Blessed  are  they 
that  are  calledP — That  which  is  written  by  God  is  sure, 
a  concluded  thing.  The  saint's  happiness  is  not.  He 
said  it,  and  shiegled.t  God  has  booked  §  your  heaven 
and  your  happiness,  if  you  be  called  to  the  Lamb's 
/narriage-supper.  As  the  wicked  man's  hell  is  booked 
and  written  of  God,  and  sealed  up  among  his  treasures, 
so  vengeance  is  laid  up  for  him  (Deut.  xxxii.  34).  Be 
glad  and  rejoice,  O  believers,  your  salvation  is  past 
through  the  great  seal;  this  testament  is  confirmed  with 
Christ's  blood.  Say  ye,  "  The  testament  is  written, 
but  my  name  is  not  there?"     A7iswer.  Neither  Abra- 

*  Throw  no  spot  upon.  t  Soil.  +  To  tear. 

X  Was  unstable ;  vacillated.  In  the  old  copy,  the  sentence 
has  **  and  shelied."  §  Registered. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


303 


ham's  nor  David's  names  are  in  it,  yet  it  is  sure  enough. 
A  father  leaves  his  inheritance  to  be  divided  equally 
among  his  sons ;  ilk*  one  has  no  more  adof  but  to 
prove  that  he  is  a  son;  then  he  falls  to  his  part  of  the 
inheritance.     We  err  oftentimes  in  our  applying  either 
promises  or  threatenings.     You  make  a  question  of 
God's  part,  ^'if  Christ  died  for  you,  and  loved  you." 
Make  aye  sure  your  own  part,  and  take  no  fear  of 
God's   part.      If   ye   ask   for  whom   Christ   died,    I 
answer ;  "  for  all  that  lean  to  Him,  be  who  they  will." 
Take  ay  %  to  you,  till  Christ  say,  I  died  not  for  you. 
A  cord  is  cast  down  in  a  hollow  pit  to  draw  up  you 
and  a  hundred  more  nor§  you.    If  ye  dispute,  "  Is  the 
cord  cast  down  for  me  ? "     I  will  tell  you  how  ye  shall 
answer  that  doubt,  grip  and  hold  fast  by  it  for  your 
life,  and  out  of  question  then  it  was  cast  down  for  you. 
If  ye  take  the  offer,  question  not  His  good  will;  step 
in;  Christ's  good  will  will  not  ask  to  whom  pertain 
ye?    And  if  He  ask,  say  ye,  "  I  am  Thine."     If  He 
deny  it,  be  ye  humble  and  bide  ||   it.     Cain's  and 
Judas'  names  are  not  written  in  the  sixth  command. 
*^  But  they  have  no  due  right  to  His  promises."    Yea,^ 
they  have  to  His  threatenings  against  murderers.     If 
ye  ask  if  Christ  died  for  you  ?     He  answers  you  with 
another  question,  Would  ye  die  for  Him  ?     Or  are  ye 
dying  for  love  to  Him  ?  that  answers  your  question. 
Sinners  are  like  a  number  of  men  swimming  in  the  sea 
betwixt  life  and  death.     Christ  and  His  merits  are 
like  a  strong  boat  and  a  man  holding  out  both  his 


*  Each  one.  t  Trouble  in  the  matter. 

X  Take  "  yes"  to  you ;  consider  it  as  granted. 
§  Besides  you.  11  Endure  it ;  submit. 

IT  The  meaning  seems  to  be  **Yes;"  the  principle  is  the 
same ;  they  should  apply  personally  the  threatenings. 


304 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


arms  drawing  them  in  one  by  one,  saying,  ^*  Give  me 
your  hand ; "  and  so  he  presses  them  in. 

Verse  9,  '^  Blessed  are  they  that  are  called^ — Then 
all  that  hear  His  word  are  blessed.  We  are  sent  out 
to  call  you,  and  to  cry,  "  Our  Master,  the  King's  son, 
is  to  be  married,  come  to  the  feast,  and  bring  all  your 
best  clothes  with  you."  But  there  are  many  called, 
who  are  not  called.  That  calling  in  the  Proverbs  i.  24, 
is  not  here  meant,  ^^  I  called  and  ye  refused;"  nor 
that  in  Matt.  xx.  19,  "Many  are  called  but  few  are 
chosen."  There  is  a  difference  between  the  inward 
calling  and  the  outward  calling.  First.  In  the  person; 
none  are  called  but  the  Bridegroom's  friends,  who  are 
come  of  Christ's  own  house,  and  are  native  of  kin  to 
Him;  strangers  and  bastards  to  the  house  get  but  a  word. 
Different  from  this  is  that  calling  that  is  to  the  saints ; 
a  calling  by  their  names,  as  when  God  called  Abraham 
who  said,  "  Here  am  I."  The  friends  of  the  Bride- 
groom hear  a  voice  upon  their  hearts,  as  if  God  had 
called  them  by  their  names ;  the  rest  are  called,  but 
they  obey  not  the  King.  They  hear  a  voice  sounding 
in  the  air  as  afar  off  speak  to  a  man  of  inheritance  in 
Spain;  he  hears  and  hears  not.  The  reprobate  hear  oi 
God's  calling  as  if  ye  were  speaking  to  him  of  playing 
at  the  football,  or  some  trifle.  But  speak  to  a  man  of 
his  own  inheritance,  and  how  he  shall  be  lord  of  all 
things;  O,  that  goes  near  his  heart.  Secondly,  The 
inward  calling  goes  foot  for  foot  with  the  decree  of 
election.  "  Whom  He  did  predestinate,  them  He 
also  called  "  (Rom.  viii.  30).  The  inward  calling  is 
more  than  a  word;  it  is  a  word  with  an  arrow  shot  at 
the  heart,  or  struck  on  the  soul,  but  it  must  yield  to 
Christ  and  be  led  captive  at  His  will.  *^  Other  sheep 
I  have,  them  also  I  must  bring  in"  (John  x.  16).  I 
must  have  them,  cost  what  it  will.     If  they  be  un- 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  305 


willing,  they  shall  be  made  willing.  Indeed,  the 
wicked  run  away  with  one  of  Clirist's  arrows  sticking 
in  them,  as  a  wild  beast  with  a  dart ;  (but  if  it  is  shot 
with  Christ's  full  strength,  it  goes  to  the  bone) ;  it 
but  draws  blood,  and  makes  a  hole  in  the  skin.  The 
arrow  falls  out  and  the  wound  closes  again.  But  it  is 
the  Mediator's  arrow  John  speaks  of  in  John  x.  28. 
O,  says  the  man,''^  there  is  a  grip  called  the  Mediator's 
grip.  "  I,  when  I  am  lifted  up  to  the  Cross,  will  draw 
all  men  after  Me"  (John  xii.  32).  No  man  can  resist 
iTim  if  he  once  get  a  blow  of  Him,  and  a  wound  in 
his  soul  with  one  of  Christ's  arrows.  So  Paul  was  not 
called  to  His  supper  till  he  was  blind,  and  had  fasted 
three  days.  So  this  in  Zech.  xii.  10,  "They  shall 
look  on  Him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  shall 
mourn  as  one  that  mourneth  for  his  only  son."  These 
that  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  are  ''  blessed  " 
for  ever.  To  be  called  to  the  marriage  is  to  be  pro- 
mised away  and  spoken  for  in  marriage;  and  when 
the  contract  is  subscribed  and  the  woman  gives  her 
oath,  hand,  and  promise,  to  her  husband — when  she 
is  hand-fastened  t  before  God  to  him — she  cannot 
with  honesty  enter  into  marriage  with  another  man. 
By  the  law,  the  last  {  testament  is  of  force.  So,  when 
we  have  given  our  names  to  our  husband  Christ,  it  is  not 
honesty  to  fall  in  love  again  with  other  lovers;  to  marry 
two  is  vile  falsehood.  Are  ye  content  that  Christ  get 
your  first  love,  and  to  go  with  Him  before  §  another  ? 
All  that  are  called  to  the  marriage  should  be  chaste, 
and  think  of  that  look  of  their  husband  Christ,  who 
got  the  first  promise  of  them.     He  has  a  tongue  that 


*  Perhaps  it  should  be,  "  O  yes,  man.'* 
Betrothed  and  contracted.  %  Her  recent  betrothal. 

§  Rather  than. 
U 


3o6  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


is  sweeter  than  all  tongues.  An  honest  merchant,  who 
made  the  first  black  *  and  stroke  with  you,  will  not 
beguile  you  for  a  penny  more.  And,  when  all  is 
done,  the  devil  and  the  world  cannot  over-bid  t  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Can  they  bid  more  than  heart? 
or  Christ  ?  or  God  ?  Yet  many,  after  they  have  given 
away  their  hand  to  Christ  in  covenant,  the  world 
ravishes  them  ere  ever  Christ  can  come  to  claim 
them  again. 

"  The  Lamb^s  Wife  hath  made  herself  ready P — It  is 
not  said  that,  "  The  Lamb  made  Himself  ready  P  There 
is  no  stopi  of  the  marriage  on  Christ's  side  of  it.  It 
is  long  since  He  died  and  rose  again,  and  entered 
into  His  glory.  But  the  wife  is  wild,  §  sweer,  and 
slow  to  the  draught.  The  reason  why  the  last  marriage- 
day  is  deferred  is  because  God  will  have  none  of  His 
own  to  be  lost,  or  perish  (2  Peter  iii.  9).  Long  for  the 
marriage-day.  Cry,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus."  Ye  would 
be  at  heaven;  but  your  lusts  are  not  yet  subdued. 
Get  the  body  of  sin,  and  the  world,  crucified,  and  the 
wedding-garment  ready  ;  for  on  Christ's  side  there  is  no 
stop,  the  lodgings  are  taken.  Ye  bid  Him  come 
quickly ;  He  may  bid  you  go  fast ;  for  He  runs,  and 
ye  creep  at  leisure.  Ye  come  out  of  the  world,  as  Lot 
came  out  of  Sodom,  sweerly.  ||  Put  every  day  some  ot 
your  journey  over,  that  you  and  He  may  meet.  But 
ye  stand  still  and  sleep ;  ye  are  like  a  drunkard  that 
says,  ^'We  are  over  long  here,  in  the  ale-house,"  yet  sits 
still  and  drinks  on.     It  were  not  tellingH  us  that  the 

^  Bargain  and  agreement.  t  Offer  a  higher  price. 

%  Nothing  to  delay. 
§  Wilful,  and  reluctant,  and  slow  to  be  drawn  into  compliance 
with  His  wishes.  ||  Rehictantly. 

IF  It  would  not  be  for  good  to  us.  From  the  A.  S.  word, 
^' teala,  good,"  says  Jamieson.  But  it  may  be  just,  "It  would 
not  tell  in  our  favour." 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


307 


marriage  came  when  we  seek  it ;  there  is  a  great  part 
of  the  wedding-garment  yet  still  unready. 

"  T/ie  Marriage-Supper  of  the  Lavib.  " —  Gospel 
promises  and  mercies  are  called  a  marriage-supper. 
God  calls  not  brass  gold.  He  calls  blessedness  in 
Christ,  a  supper  and  a  marriage-supper,  wherein  are 
all  pleasures  that  can  delight  hearing  and  tasting,  music, 
and  good  cheer.  It  is  a  supper  after  which  meek  men 
get  rest,  and  the  night's  sleep;  for  the  saints  have 
many  a  hungry  dinner  in  this  world.  Pleasures  are 
the  husks  that  the  swine  feed  on,  the  devil's  draff. -•' 
Hebrews  xi.  25,  ^' The  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season." 
They  have  much  toil  and  labour  the  long  summer  day, 
but  here  is  their  blessedness,  they  knov/  of  a  hearty 
meal  of  meat  at  night,  and  rest  in  the  bosom  of  their 
well-beloved  Christ.  After  this  supper  there  is  no  such 
toil  and  trouble  as  is  after  dinner.  Men  have  no  rest, 
but  are  weary  and  laden  till  Christ  and  they  meet; 
they  are  aye  under  Satan's  yoke  till  Christ  loose  them. 
Habakkuk  ii.  13,  "Behold  it  is  not  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts  that  people  should  labour  in  the  fire,  and  weary 
themselves  with  very  vanity,"  and  Jeremiah  ii.  20,  "Of 
old  I  have  broken  thy  yoke,  and  burst  thy  bands 
asunder."  God's  people  were  in  Satan's  yoke,  and 
under  abominable  slavery  in  Egypt,  till  supper  came, 
when  they  got  some  rest  and  sleep.  Satan  has  men 
yoked  in  a  plough,  and  profit,  pleasure,  and  honour, 
are  his  iron  pricking  goads.  Balaam  hears  of  gold  and 
honour,  Judas  of  money,  and  they  go  sweating  up  the 
furrows.  So  God's  children  are  yoked  till  God  loose 
and  ease  them,  and  call  them  to  His  supper  ;  and  then 
they  rest  from  their  long  summer  day's  toil.  Ye  mar- 
vel to  see  the  wicked  get  so  good  cheer,  and  to  wallow 

^  Mere  dregs. 


3o8  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


in  pleasures ;  ye  startle  at  providence  here  when 
ye  see  the  godly  in  trouble.  But  the  reprobates 
are  not  called  to  the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb. 
AVonder  not  that  God  gives  a  greedy  dog  a  bone ; 
and  so  indeed  is  the  world  to  them.  Let  them  get 
the  belly  full  of  it;  they  shall  for  all  that  ^^  lie  down 
in  sorrow"  (Isaiah  1.  ii)  without  tasting  the  marriage- 
supper. 

^'  And  He  said  to  me  those  are  the  tnie  sayhigs  of 
GodJ^ — Angels  got  a  taste  of  Christ  at  the  beginning, 
and  have  learned  something  that  they  had  never  known 
if  man  had  not  fallen.  And  though  they  be  but  be- 
holders, and  eat  not  of  the  supper  as  we  do,  yet  when 
Christ's  meat  is  on  the  table,  it  casts  a  good  smell,  and 
they  delight  to  learn  something  of  Christ  which  they 
knew  not  before.  If  they  say,  much  more  cause  have 
we  to  say  so,  that  God's  word  is  "  faithful  and  true." 
All  the  messes  of  the  supper  are  for  us,  "  His  flesh  is 
meat  indeed"  to  us,  and  "  His  blood  is  drink  indeed" 
to  us.  Say  ye,  Will  not  all  men  as  well  as  angels  say 
so  ?  Do  any  deny  God's  word  and  sayings  to  be  true  ? 
It  will  be  thought,  men  for  shame  will  not  give  God 
the  lie  in  His  face.  Indeed,  in  general,  we  say  God's 
words  are  true,  but,  when  it  comes  to  practice,  we 
stand  not  to  give  Him  the  lie  in  His  face.  Like 
archers  who  set  their  eye  upon  the  m.ark,  and  when  all 
is  done,  the  bow  it  breaks,  and  the  arrow  falls  at  their 
foot.  Whilst  conscience  keeps  in  generals,  and  is  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  word,  we  say  the  word  is 
good,  but  when  the  word  is  near  to  command  us,  and 
to  control  our  lusts,  and  deny  our  wills ;  then  we  do 
as  Jeroboam's  conscience,  that  slipt  the  shackles,  when 
God's  word  was  like  (as  he  did  think)  to  deprive  him 
of  his  kingdom.  Our  conscience  goes  along  with  the 
word  in  2:eneral,   but  when   it  meets  with    our  wild 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


309 


humours,  or  lights  on  Herod's  belt,*  then  we  cry  and 
complain  as  he  did.  When  our  lusts  rise,  and  the  Word 
binds  our  conscience,  then  conscience  gives  God  fair 
words,  like  a  flattering  friend,  or  knavish  servant  that 
is  aye  to  seek  when  there  is  most  to  do.  The  adulterer 
says  God's  word  is  true,  yet  in  time  of  temptation, 
when  the  seventh  command  comes  in  handy t  grips, 
and  hard  wrestling,  then  he  tells  another  tale.  The 
mind  is  as  a  judge  that  aye  does  right  till  he  get 
ill  counsel,  and  then  never  a  good  turn.  The  mind 
afar  off  judges  aright  of  God's  word,  but  in  comes  the 
affections  as  an  ill  counsellor  and  does  lead  conscience 
by  the  nose.  When  it  comes  to  practice,  the  affection  is 
conscience's  ill  neighbour,  like  Rehoboam's  counsellors, 
that  led  him  wrong  to  his  hurt. 

Verse  10,  ^^  And  I  fell  down  at  His  feet  to  worships 
— We  read  of  very  few  of  John's  faults.  Here  he  fell 
twice  in  idolatry,  inconsiderately  taking  the  angel  to 
be  more  than  an  angel,  he  directing  his  worship  to 
God,  no  doubt,  as  he  supposed ;  but  his  heart  being 
too  much  addicted  to  admire  and  reverence  a  creature, 
he  slips  when  he  doats  so  much  on  instruments. 
Observe,  humility  can  steal  on  our  heart  in  the  heat 
of  love ;  and  Satan  can  beguile  us  with  it.  Idolatry 
comes  in  upon  John  with  a  sweet  disguise ;  he  wel- 
comed it  as  God's  worship.  Our  hearts  and  Satan  do 
work  to  others  hands.  While  we  are  not  advising  with 
God,  our  hearts  go  far  on  in  pleasuring  of  sin,  and 
covering  of  idolatry.  But  let  men  wash  idolatry  with 
all  the  holy  water  of  Rome,  it  has  aye  a  black  skin. 
Many  go  farther  on  in  idolatry  than  John  did.  Saul 
would  not  himself  kill  David,  and  does  not  mind  the 


Perhaps  it  should  be  ''belly,"  as  Philippians  iii.  19. 
t  Close  grappling. 


3IO 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


matter  and  event  of  it ;  nay,  but  he  gives  him  over  into 

the  Philistines*  hands.  Sins  (especially  gross  sins) 
have  a  bloody,  black  face,  so  that  men  must  put  on  a 
mask  before  they  kiss  them.  Men  think  to  beguile 
their  consciences  by  challenging  of  some  circumstances. 
The  Colossians  worshipped  angels  (ii.  i8),  but  they 
did  it  under  pretence  of  humility.  Israel  did  swear 
that  they  would  not  give  their  daughters  to  the  Ben- 
jamites ;  but  how  made  they  up  the  matter  ?  They 
bade  the  Benjamites  at  a  dance  take  their  daughters 
by  force,  and  so  they  play  their  conscience  a  slip.  Sin 
can  go  out  at  one  door,  when  conscience  hosts**  it ; 
and  comes  slipping  in  again  with  a  new  garment,  it 
being  that  same  sin.  Pilate,  he  put  murder  from 
himself  by  washing  his  hands,  and  said,  I  am  free  of 
Christ's  blood ;  he  plastered  his  murder  fairly  with  this, 
"  The  people  caused  him  to  do  it."  So  swearing  is 
good  enough  to  many,  if  they  swear  the  truth ;  men 
would  fain  have  God's  law  beguiled.  If  vanity  of 
apparel  lose  the  name  of  pride,  and  commend  this 
that  it  is  called  the  fashion,  it  is  thought  good  enough. 
But  if  your  clothes  be  proud,  your  heart  cannot  be 
humble.  If  the  deceiver  can  count  his  conscience, 
and  win  by|  the  eight  command,  and  say,  The  bar- 
gain was  made  in  daylight,  your  eye  was  your  merchant, 
he  thinks  he  has  loupen§  dry-shod.  But  consider  Jer. 
ii.  2  2,  "Though  thou  wash  thyself  with  nitre,  and  take 
thee  much  soap;  yet  thy  iniquity  is  marked  before  Me." 
Why  is  it  that  we  learn  not  to  deal  honestly  with  God's 
law  ?    Alas,  we  make  the  Almighty  a  child,  provok- 

*  Threatens  it  with  a  blow, 
t  Coim,  to  make  oneself  master  of.    But,  also,  there  is  a  word, 
"  Co7ina7td,''^  used  for  terms  of  peace   offered  previous  to  an 
engagement,  from  the  French,  Coftvenant. 

X  Get  past.  §  Leapt  over. 


COMMUNION    SERMONS. 


3^1 


ing  Him  to  anger,  and  then  we  put  Him  off  with  fair 
words.  John  here  doated  on  the  instruments,  in  his 
devotion,  labouring  to  be  thankful  to  God  for  the  sweet 
news  he  had  heard.  It  was  an  ordinary  fault  in  many, 
to  give  more  to  some  instruments,  than  was  their  due. 
Among  the  Hebrews  (chap,  iii.),  some  will  set  up  Moses 
as  a  High  Priest.  In  Corinth,  no  preacher  like  Paul ; 
says  another,  I  think  Apollos  better ;  a  third  says, 
In  my  judgment,  Cephas,  Peter,  is  best  of  all.  What 
are  ministers  but  earthen  pitchers  carrying  the  heavenly 
treasures  ?  If  they  be  faithful,  they  should  do  as  John 
the  Baptist,  when  the  people  thought  to  have  done  hom- 
age to  him,  and  took  him  to  be  Christ ;  he  took  them 
witness  that  he  told  them,  "he  was  not  the  Christ, 
nor  worthy  to  loose  His  shoe-latchet."  Call  no  man 
Rabbi.  God  is  witness  that  ministers  desire  to  put  you 
fair  off  their  hands,  and  to  send  you  to  Christ.  They 
are  but  the  Bridegroom's  friends  carrying  your  love 
letters  from  your  husband.  But  carry  it  who  will, 
leave  oif  comparing  ministers  with  mysteries,**  lest  you 
provoke  God  to  blow  out  the  poor  man's  candle ;  and 
ye  know  that  a  blown  out  candle  will  have  an  ill 
smell.  They  but  carry  the  trumpet;  the  Spirit  blows. 
Ye  should  not  dote  on  any  man.  Would  you  have  an 
idol  to  waste  your  love  on?  There  is  one  Christ 
Jesus ;  dote  your  fill  on  Him.  Love,  and  better 
love  t  Him,  till  ye  be  wearied  of  loving  Him. 
Beware  that  ye  move  not  the  Lord  to  take  the  gift 
from  the  ministers.  The  devil  can  cast  wildfire  in 
people's  zeal,  and  cause  them  make  a  god  of  a  man  in 
whom  there  is  not  much  stuff,  if  he  were  sifted.  Is 
comfort  bound  to  any  man's  tongue  above  another  ? 
Balaam's  ass  once  made  a  preaching,  that  might  have 

*  Ministers  ?        t  Love,  and  love  more  and  more. 


312 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


been  a  lesson  to  the  ill  man.  I  say,  sirs,  take  God's 
meat,  cook  it  who  will.  Alas  !  that  ministers  by  their 
wicked  lives  should  spoil  God's  meat,  so  as  the  children 
skunner.*  Who  would  believe  when  John  was  in 
an  angel's  company,  and  ravished  in  the  spirit,  and  had 
seen  Christ  so  gloriously  revealed  to  him,  and  such 
comfortable  victories  over  Antichrist,  having  his 
heart  so  well  set  to  praise  God,  that  he  would  have 
snapperedf  on  a  course  of  idolatry.  Hence,  if  we  were 
in  an  angel's  company,  as  was  Judas, :{:  the  devil  and 
sin  are  lying  in  wait  to  insnare  us.  This  world  is  as  a 
great  wood,  and  at  every  tree-root  there  lies,  and  in 
every  bush  there  lies  a  serpent.  We  had  need  to  tell§ 
all  our  steps  to  heaven,  and  see  whether  we  go  right 
or  wTong.  When  we  are  rejoicing  in  God,  the  devil 
can  deceive  us.  Peter  thought  himself  a  humble  man, 
when  he  said  to  Christ,  ''  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my 
feet,"  but  he  was  devilishly  humble.  In  praying, 
reading,  hearing,  communicating,  &c.,  temptations  are 
at  our  elbow.  Satan,  in  Job's  days,  came  before  the 
Lord  to  accuse  the  man  ;  think  ye  not  the  devil  is  as 
bold  as  ever  he  was  ?  And  think  ye  that  he  dare  not 
come  to  the  Communion  table  ?  When  Judas  was  at 
the  table  with  Christ,  Satan  goes  in  with  a  sop.  The 
devil  has  been  at  Christ's  high  messes,  and  will  be  wait- 
ing on  to  go  into  every  believing  soul.  The  world  is 
like  a  piece  of  broad  sea  full  of  nets  and  lines.  Satan 
hath  laid  his  lines  through  the  world,  and  it  is  all  full 
of  girnsll  and  traps  wheresoever  we  go.  In  an  instant 
John  is  here  hooked  with  idolatry.  David  with  the 
glance  of  an  eye  was  hooked  with  adultery.  We  had 
need  to  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  and  that 
we  go  not  through  Satan's  camp  without  our  armour, 

*  Loathe  it,  t  Stumbled.  %  John  ?  §  Count  over ;  watch.   ||  Snares. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


313 


and  our  Christ  with  us.  For  Satan's  arrows  and  bullets 
are  flying  thick  about  our  ears,  whatever  we  be  doing. 
We  live  here  beside  ill  neighbours,  we  dwell  on  a  dry 
march**  with  Satan  and  his  temptations.  O  let  us  be- 
ware of  one  that  is  at  our  elbow  in  the  holiest  work  we 
can  go  about. 

"  See  thou  do  it  not,  I  ain  thy  felloiu-servanty — 
Angels  will  have  none  of  God's  glory.  All  that  have 
gifts  or  light  should  labour  to  see  that  our  Lord  gets 
His  glory.  When  that  beast  t  suffered  men  to  fall 
down  on  their  knees  to  give  him  that  worship  and 
title  that  was  due  only  to  Christ,  we  may  know  by 
that  what  spirit  was  in  him.  The  man  that  is  nearest 
to  God  would  have  all  glory  given  only  to  God.  God 
and  we  must  not  be  halvers  %  in  His  glory.  Papists 
say  they  give  glory  to  God,  but  images  must  have  a 
bow  by  the  way!  Is  not  our  part  to  keep  good 
neighbourhood  with  God?  to  keep  His  marches? § 
Grace  may  well  satisfy "  us ;  glory  is  a  high  mass,  || 
none  may  say  to  Christ  in  that  half  mind.  Cornelius 
gave  his  knee  to  Peter,  but  he  refused  it.  Where  there 
is  betwixt  God  and  us  a  creature  that  represents  God,  if 
we  bow  a  knee  to  it,  that  smells  of  idolatry,  although 
our  worship  be  directed  to  God.  We  have  a  jealous 
husband.  If  ye  bow  the  knee  to  a  creature,  and  say 
it  is  to  Christ,  it  is  as  a  wife  should  prostrate  herself 
to  a  strange  lover,  and  then  say,  "God  knows  my 
heart  is  towards  my  husband."    Idolatry  may  be  idolatry 

*  A  boundary  line,  which  has  not  even  water  to  keep  us  separate. 

t  Revelation  xiii.  4.         X  Sharers,  each  taking  a  half. 

§  His  boundary  line. 

II  The  sentence  is  obscure.     The  meaning  seems  to  be  this — 

"  Let  us  creatures  be  content  with  grace ;  but  as  to  *  claiming' 

glory  that  is  a  High  Mass  which  none  should  venture  to  say  to 

Christ,  as  if  we  might  halve  it  with  Him.'* 


314 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


although  men  intend  not  idolatry  in  worshipping  the 
creature.  They  who  say  John  intended  to  worship  the 
angel,  have  not  well  considered  the  place.  John 
directed  both  his  inward  worship  and  his  knee  worship 
to  God,  and  took  the  angel  to  be  God,  otherwise  the 
angel's  reproof,  "  /  am  thy  fellow-servant^^  were  not 
worth  a  straw.  And  yet  he  is  rebuked  for  idolatry 
in  directing  knee-worship  to  an  angel.  Cornelius 
intended  not  to  give  to  Peter  what  was  due  to  God, 
he  kend,*  as  it  was  told  him,  that  Peter  was  a  man; 
yet  he  thought,  for  his  Master's  sake,  and  the  gospel's 
sake,  he  would  bow  his  knee  to  him.  For  which  he 
was  rebuked. 

"  The  testimony  of  J^esus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy  T — 
This  is  the  testimony  of  Christ,  which  comes  from  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  who  reveals  things  to  come.  As 
ministers  are  witnesses  for  Christ,  so  they  must  see 
and  hear,  otherwise  they  cannot  depone  upon  their 
consciences  to  the  people.  *  They  must  have  the 
spirit  that  John  had,  John  xv.  26,  "The  Spirit  of 
truth."  I  Cor.  xii.  3,  "  None  can  call  Jesus  the  Lord, 
but  by  the  Spirit."  This  will  tell  men  if  they  be 
rightly  called  ministers ;  and  if  they  want  the  Spirit, 
they  sound  not  with  the  trumpets,  but  with  rams'- 
homs.     I  shall  add  no  more.     Amen. 

He  knew. 


SERMON     XIV.-^ 

The  voice  of  my  Beloved !  Behold  He  cometh  leapinq  upon  the 
mountains^  skipping  upon  the  hills,  er-v.— Cant.  ii.  8-12. 

IN  these  words  (as  we  observed  in  the  last  sermon 
on  this  text)  there  are  set  down  five  particulars  as 
to  how  the  Church  calls  Christ, ''  My  Beloved^^  and  how 
she  takes  Him  up.  I.  She  discerns  His  voice.  II.  She 
espies  Him  '' co?ni7igJ^  III.  In  His  own  person, 
"  Behold  Hecomethy  IV.  The  manner  of  His  coming, 
" skipping  a?td  leaping"  V.  The  impediments  in  His 
way,  '^  mountai?is  and  hills. ^' 

These  are  already  expounded,  only  there  remaineth 
a  few  t  things,  that  which  should  have  been  marked 
before,  which  I  add  in  this  place.  The  Church  says 
not,  J  It  is  ''  the  voice  of  my  Beloved,'^  but  for  haste 
she  says  no  more  but,  "  My  Beloved's  voice  ! "  When 
Christ  is  either  heard  or  seen  by  a  faithful  soul,  He 

*  It  is  not  said  where  the  pubHsher  got  these  notes  of  the 
sermon  ;  the  language  is  evidently  somewhat  modernized,  but 
the  tone  is  quite  like  Samuel  Rutherford.  Most  of  his  sermons 
that  have  been  preserved  to  us  were  preached  at  Communion 
Seasons,  and  in  all  probability  it  was  strangers  who  took  notes 
of  the  sermons.  These  strangers  came  on  purpose  on  these 
special  occasions,  and  took  down  in  writing  as  much  as 
they  could,  in  order  to  carry  to  others  a  portion  at  least  of  the 
provision  of  Anwoth. 

t  In  the  old  copy,  '*  two."  %  "  Now  "  in  the  old  copy. 


3i6  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


wakeneth  up,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  passions 
of  that  soul.  Joy  will  not  let  her  get  out  the  rest  of 
her  words.  What  raises  the  child  of  God's  heart? 
What  but  news  from  heaven  of  Christ?  When  the 
disciples  hear  tell  of  Christ's  resurrection,  they  run  to 
the  grave  for  joy.  The  heart  runs  before  the  mouth. 
Ye  may  try  by  this  way  whether  ye  be  Christ's  or  not ; 
if  the  heart  leap  for  joy  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  if  the 
affections  leap  out  and  embrace  Christ  about  the  neck, 
so  that  the  heart  strive  and  out  run  the  tongue.  The 
conscience  is  slow,  the  heart  is  quick  and  swift.  The 
affections  like  dry  timber,  any  spark  of  fire  casten  in 
upon  them  makes  them  soon  to  burn  ;  the  conscience 
is  like  green  wood  that  burns  not  soon,  yet  keeps  the 
fire  durable.  The  affections  are  like  the  needle,  the 
rest  of  the  soul  like  the  thread;  and  as  the  needle 
makes  way  and  draws  the  thread,  so  holy  affections 
pull  forward  and  draw  all  to  Jesus.  The  affections 
are  the  ground ''-'  and  lower  part  of  the  soul,  and 
when  they  are  filled  they  set  all  the  soul  on  work; 
when  there  is  any  love  in  the  affections,  it  sets  all  the 
rest  of  the  faculties  of  the  soul  on  work  to  duty,  and 
when  there  is  any  corruption  in  the  affections,  it  stag- 
nates the  soul,  will,  mind,  and  conscience.  Affections 
are  the  feet  of  the  soul,  and  the  wheels  whereupon  the 
conscience  runs.  When  a  man  is  off  his  feet  he  can- 
not run  or  walk ;  so  when  the  affections  are  lame,  the 
soul  moves  on  crutches. 

There  does  yet  remain  something  to  be  spoken  con- 
cerning these  *'  7noimiainsr  God  comes  in  mercy  to 
two  sorts  of  people.  He  comes  to  some  before  ever 
they  be  aware  of  His  coming;  He  steals  upon  them 
before  ever  they  hear  or  see  Him.     So  Christ  stealed 

*  The  foundation. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


317 


in  upon  the  thief  on  the  cross,  when  he  was  wallowing 
in  his  sins.  He  came  unawares  upon  Paul  going  to 
Damascus  to  persecute  tlie  church.  But  after  Regen- 
eration, the  child  of  God  knows  His  tongue,  and 
hears  the  noise  of  His  feet  before  He  come  ;  yea, 
they  be  like  hungry  cattle  so  given  on*^  Christ,  that  they 
are  ever  looking  over  the  mountains  to  see  if  He 
comes,  and  are  always  setting  up  their  ears  to  hear  if 
they  can  know  His  voice,  and  discern  His  leaps  and 
skippings. 

''Behold  He  is  standing  beJwid  our  wall T — Before 
Christ  speak,  He  comes  leaping  upon  the  mountains. 
Now  here  He  comes  near  ere  they  see  Him,  so  that 
there  is  but  one  wall  betwixt  them,  and  lest  the  wall 
should  hinder  from  a  sight  of  Him,  she  sees  Him  look- 
ing out  at  the  windows.  We  see  that  it  is  a  note  or 
mark  of  the  true  Church  and  child  of  God,  to  grow 
in  fellovrship  and  communion  with  Jesus  Christ. 
2  Thess.  i.  3,  "  We  are  bound  to  thank  God  always 
for  you,  brethren,  as  it  is  meet,  because  that  your  faith 
groweth  exceedingly.''  The  word  signifieth  that  it 
groweth  above  the  blade.  Let  us  be  carried  through 
with  faith  and  love,  with  our  sails  up,  into  perfection. 
Heb.  vi.  I.  Paul  is  brought  in  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
chasing  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  doing  nothing 
else  but  chasing  it :  ''  This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto 
those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark, 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
We  must  press  fast  fonvard,  and  run  as  in  a  race  after 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  the  way  to  heaven, 
even  in  many  difficulties.  Like  a  boat  sailing  against 
tide,  wind,  and  weather ;  if  we  do  not  go  fonvard,  we 

'  To  be  given  on  "  is  to  pry  into. 


3l8  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


will  not  miss  to  sail  backwards.  This  condemns  many 
in  our  age,  dwarf  Christians,  that  eat  much,  and  are 
not  like  to  thrive  !  They  have  many  glorious  meetings 
at  Communions  with  Christ,  and  yet  they  grow  not; 
they  remain  still  like  the  seven  lean  kine  that  Pharaoh 
saw,  that  devoured  the  seven  fat  kine,  and  yet  remained 
still  lean.  And  they  may  be  compared  to  a  strange 
fire  that  casts  a  blaze,  and  in  end  turns  to  smoke;  and 
to  locusts  that  loup  up  with  a  start,  and  fall  down  to 
the  earth  again.  O  !  it  is  the  ill  of  our  church  that  it 
is  going  backward.  Christ  was  once  behind  the  wall ; 
now  He  is  beyond  the  curtain,  and  now  removing.  But 
how  is  this  made  good  ?  How  do  I  prove  it  to  be  the 
sign  of  a  removing  Christ  ?  When  God  tells  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  (Jer.  xvi.  2),  that  he  was  to  remove.  He  says, 
^'  Thou  shalt  not  take  thee  a  wife,  neither  shalt  thou 
have  sons  or  daughters  in  this  place. '^  Alas  !  Jesus 
Christ  marries  few  now !  every  one  seeks  their  own 
things,  and  few  are  born  over  again  by  the  immortal 
seed  of  the  word.  \Vhen  Christ  will  not  marry  a 
Church,  and  beget  sons  and  daughters,  it  is  a  token 
that  He  is  going  away.  Christ  must  be  going  away 
when  He  is  transporting  His  goods.  The  power  and 
life  of  preaching  is  away,  His  servants  banished  to  other 
lands;  our  Bishops  complain  that  there  are  so  many  in 
the  land  that  have  Bibles.  Woe  to  them  when  I  de- 
part from  them. 

''Behind  oiw  ivall^'  that  is.  Behold  He  dwells  in  our 
house  of  clay,  as  it  is  termed,  Job.  iv.  19.  John  i.  14, 
''  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us." 
And  it  is  called  our  zuall,  because  we  have  an  interest 
in  the  man  Jesus  Christ,  since  He  has  our  nature  upon 
Him.  Christ  Jesus  is  here  resembled  to  a  great  city, 
the  blessed  human  nature  of  Christ  is  a  wall ;  the  gate 
or  porch  to  enter  in  through  to  that  city,  are  the  wounds 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


319 


of  our  Lord  Jesus.  There  is  a  fair  fountain  in  the 
midst  of  the  city  called  David's  well,  which  is  meaned 
of  the  heart-blood  of  Christ  Jesus  crucified ;  the  in- 
dwellers  are  the  elect.  The  humanity  of  Christ  is 
our  wall  of  defence;  all  the  stones  of  it  are  hewn 
stones,  out  of  Adam;  for  Jesus  Christ  is  Adam's  son. 
Now,  the  use  of  walls  is  to  defend  the  city.  Zech.  ii.  5. 
God  is  a  wall  of  fire  about  Jerusalem;  all  that  are  within 
our  walls  are  sure  from  God's  wrath ;  this  wall  holds  off 
all  sorts  of  cannon.  The  body  and  soul  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  buckler  that  received  all  the 
strokes  that  God's  justice  did  let  out  against  us.  When 
the  Lord  did  cast  that  great  and  heavy  dart  of  His 
wrath  against  elect  sinners,  Christ  had  a  body,  and  He 
came  running  and  received  that  dart,  both  in  His  soul 
and  body.  Isaiah  liii.  5,  "  But  He  was  wounded  for 
our  transgressions.  He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities, 
the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him,  and  with 
His  stripes  we  are  healed." 

The  Lord  did  cast  upon  man  a  great  mountain  of 
His  wrath  ;  but  betwixt  God's  casting  and  the  lighting 
of  it,  Jesus,  a  Saviour  timeously  ready  in  trouble,  came 
in  and  bare  the  burden.  God  had  shot  the  arrows  of 
His  indignation  at  us ;  but  betwixt  the  loofing  *  of  the 
arrow,  and  the  lighting  of  it,  our  Lord  came  in  and 
held  the  arrows  off  us.  Christ's  body  was  our  shield 
of  defence.  Now,  all  ye  that  would  be  safe  from  judg- 
ment and  the  Avrath  to  come,  lie  under  this  wall ;  keep 
the  town  as  ye  love  your  life ;  hold  you  within  the 
city.  If  ye  should  die  in  the  cause,  it  is  but  a  pint  or 
quart  of  your  blood  that  ye  lose  for  Christ,  and  it  is 
not  lost,  it  will  surely  be  restored.  Satan  and  the 
world  strives  to  make  a  gap  in  this  wall  and  to  take  the 

*  It  seems  to  be  for  ''shooting." 


320  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


town;  but  stay  within  the  ports  and  be  saved.  The  Jews 
cast  down  this  wall,  but  our  Lord  built  it  up  in  three 
days.  It  is  a  great  benefit  to  us,  that  when  (whereas) 
mountains  of  sin  were  betwixt  God  and  us,  now  we 
are  made  so  near,  that  in  Christ  there  is  but  a  wall  be- 
twixt God  and  us.  How  foolish  is  the  church  of  Rome, 
that  takes  such  a  long  journey  by  saints  and  angels  to 
go  to  God  by,  when  the  way  is  e^sy  and  near,  if  they 
would  come  to  Jesus  Christ. 

"  He  looketh  forth  at  tJie  windows,  showing  Hi7nself 
through  the  latticeJ^ — This  looking  out  at  the  windows, 
and  through  the  lattice,  signifies  the  Lord  Jesus  show- 
ing Himself  to  His  elect  through  the  windows  of  His 
human  nature.  Jesus  is  a  fioAver  set  in  the  Avindows 
of  the  human  nature,  and  a  rose  with  many  leaves, 
that  casteth  a  sweet  smell  through  mankind.  For  as 
Jesus  Christ  is  man,  the  Lord  strikes  certain  windows 
out  of  Him.  Now  the  use  of  Avindows  is,  that  such  as 
are  within  the  house  may  see  such  as  are  without  the 
house,  and  that  they  may  see  them  again.  Christ  had 
infirmities  as  we  have  every  way,  except  sin,  for  in  that 
He  suffered  Himself,  and  was  tempted.  He  is  able  to 
succour  them  that  are  tempted.  ^'  He  was  a  man  of 
sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief"  (Isaiah  liii.  3). 
Now  at  the  window  of  His  own  sorrow,  He  looketh  out 
to  your  sorrow,  and  my  sorrow,  and  out  at  this  window 
He  sees  all  the  mourners  of  Zion,  and  the  broken- 
hearted. This  is  a  sweet  thing  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  so  fair  a  glass,  in  which  He  sees  our  heavy  cross. 
Dost  thou  sigh  and  groan?  Jesus  Himself  sighed,  and 
saw  these  sighs  in  the  glass  of  His  own.  Art  thou 
poor?  pitiful  Jesus  sees  thy  poverty,  He  knows  what  it 
is  to  be  poor.  He  was  poor  Himself  Art  thou  hungry 
and  thirsty  ?  so  was  our  Lord  Jesus.  And  Jesus  Christ 
knows  what  it  is  to  die,  for  He  died  Himself.    Here  are 


COMMUNION    SERMONS, 


321 


the  emblems  or  Christ  and  His  church.  Jesus  has 
gone  along  the  narrow  bridge,  and  He  reaches  back 
His  hand  to  lead  us  along  the  bridge.  Christ  and  we 
came  to  a  deep  running  water  together,  Christ  ventured 
His  life  to  dry  the  ford,  and  having  broken  the  streams 
of  it,  He  runs  back  and  convoys  us  through  with  Him- 
self. "  For  we  have  not  an  high  priest  who  cannot  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  was  in 
all  points  tempted  as  we  are, yet  without  sin"  (Hebrews 
iv.  15).  And  more;  when  He  bruised  our  Lord  Jesus, 
He  did  strike  out  fair  windows  in  His  body,  deep  win- 
dows with  abundance  of  blood  gushing  out  at  them ; 
and  through  these  windows,  we  see  Jesus  in  His  love 
and  in  His  mercy.  We  see  His  tender  heart  for  us 
when  we  are  under  crosses  and  infirmities  ;  we  have  a 
copy  before  our  eyes.  All  ye  crossed  ones  of  Jesus, 
look  up  to  this  window,  and  behold  the  like  in  Christ. 
When  a  potter  is  to  make  a  number  of  vessels  all  of 
one  measure,  he  casts  one  first  in  the  mould,  which  is 
a  pattern  to  all  the  rest.  So  Christ,  being  first  cast 
in  the  mould,  must  have  all  His  elect  children  to  be 
so  also,  all  must  have  His  stamp,  His  colour,  His 
livery.  His  coat  of  arms." 

''My  beloved  spake  and  said  tinto  iner — Now  does 
the  Church  relate  the  words  of  her  beloved  calling 
upon  her ;  and  see  how  many  ways  the  Lord  shows 
himself  to  His  church,  i.  He  speaks  to  her  ear.  2. 
He  runs  and  leaps  before  her  eye.  3.  He  stands  be- 
hind the  wall.  4.  He  looks  out  at  the  window  to  her. 
5.  He  ends  as  He  began,  and  speaks  to  her  ear.  This 
lets  us  see  there  are  some  happy  times,  wherein  Christ 
urgeth  Himself  upon  His  children,  and  fills  both  ears, 
eyes,  tongues,  hands,  hearts,  and  fills  all  with  Christ. 
The  soul  of  the  child  of  God  has  certain  feast  days; 
it  is  even  with  the  child  of  God,  as  it  is  with  Jordan, 

X 


j22 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


all  the  banks  are  full;  sometimes  the  soul  will  be  full  of 
Christ,  so  that  it  is  full  from  bank  to  brae.  See  how 
Christ  fills  the  apostle,  i  John  i.  i,  "That  which  was 
from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we 
have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon, 
and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  Word  of  life,  verse 
3,  that  which  we  have  heard  and  seen  declare  we  unto 
you."  Behold  the  apostle  is  going  round  about  Christ, 
and  filling  himself  with  Christ,  like  hungry  men  at  a 
feast.  They  hear  Him,  they  see  Him,  they  look  upon 
Him,  and  eye  Him,  and  which  is  more,  they  handle 
Him  with  their  hands.  O !  these  are  glorious  times 
when  the  child  of  God  gets  a  great  feast  of  Christ ; 
and  if  He  fill  us  here  while  we  are  from  home,  and  are 
such  narrow-hearted  vessels  that  God  must  enlarge  us, 
Psalm  cxix.  32.  How  full  shall  we  be  of  God  when  we 
shall  see  Him  as  He  is !  Psalm  Ixiii.  5.  "  My  soul 
shall  be  filled  as  with  marrow  and  fatness.  Eat,  O 
friends,  drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly,  O  beloved," 
Cant.  V.  I.  When  any  of  these  glorious  times  comes, 
we  may  not  think  but  Christ  will  away  again.  What 
should  we  then  do  ?  Even  as  Joseph  did,  he  caused 
his  brethren  to  leave  a  pledge  to  assure  him  that  they 
would  return  again  :  so  ye  must  cause  Jesus  to  leave 
His  seal,  and  His  ring,  and  some  footsteps  of  His 
grace,  and  take  instruments  in  the  hand  of  the  Spirit, 
that  He  will  return. 

Ye  see  in  the  Church  a  sweet  and  commendable 
virtue  in  these  words,  she  sets  do\vn  the  very  progress 
of  all  the  ways  and  dealings  of  the  King  of  kings  to 
her  soul.  In  all  His  ways  she  sees  what  Christ  is 
doing ;  when  He  is  afar  off,  she  knows  Him,  she 
sees  Him  running  and  leaping,  she  sees  Him  be- 
hind the  wall,  looking  out  at  the  windows,  and  through 
the  lattice.    She  hears  Him  nearer  hand  speaking,  she 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


writes  up  His  very  words.  We  see  the  child  of  God 
marks  the  ebbings  and  the  fiowings,  the  comings  and 
goings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  sees  Christ  in  all  His 
footsteps.  When  Christ  comes  at  the  dead  hour  of 
the  night,  she  hears  His  knocks  through  her  sleep,  and 
knows  His  voice.  He  can  put  in  His  hand,  and  open 
the  bar  of  her  conscience  to  come  in,  she  knows  what 
He  is  doing,  she  feels  the  smell  that  drops  from  His 
finger-ends.  What  bred'''  experience  of  Christ  ?  even 
a  daily  walking  with  Him,  ye  know  the  courtiours  that 
are  about  the  king's  person  day  and  night,  they  can 
write  a  chronicle  of  the  king's  life,  and  can  tell  how 
many  miles  he  rides  in  the  day.  So  says  David,  "  My 
eyes  are  ever  towards  the  Lord.''  Then  ye  must  see 
what  God  is  doing:  it  is  God's  quarrel  with  Jerusalem, 
that  she  knew  not  the  things  that  belonged  to  her 
peace.  God  was  offering  peace  to  her,  tut  she  knew 
not  what  He  was  doing.  This  is  the  way  of  the  wicked, 
God  is  on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left  hand,  be- 
hind them,  and  before  them,  and  they  never  see  Him; 
they  regard  not  the  work  of  the  Lord.  There  is  fire 
made  ready  in  heaven,  and  Sodom  eats  and  drinks  till 
God  comes  with  fire  and  brimstone  and  draws  the 
table.  The  old  world  is  making  marriages,  and  sees 
not  what  I^oah  sees,  till  God,  with  the  deluge  of  water, 
comes  to  the  ending  of  their  contracts.  Men  will  not 
give  their  conscience  leave  to  believe  all  of  God  that 
it  should  believe ;  they  will  not  let  their  consciences 
go  through  the  earth  to  see  what  God  is  doing,  but  im- 
prison, and  set  a  march  to  it.  All  that  we  have  to  do 
in  this  life  is  to  take  heed  what  God  does,  and  what  we 
ourselves  do.  Isaiah  xxvi.  ii,  "  Lord,  when  Thy  hand 
is  lifted  they  will  not  see."   It  is  the  sin  of  our  age,  our 

Produced. 


324  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Beloved  is  come  on  the  mountains,  yet  His  leaping 
upon  us  is  like  a  serpent  upon  a  stone,  and  like  the 
way  of  an  eagle  in  the  air,  it  leaves  no  print  of  the 
Lord's  footsteps  behind  it  in  men's  hearts  ;  and  (which 
is  a  more  pitiful  thing)  God  is  departing  and  no  man 
looks  to  it.  The  prophet  Jeremiah  has  a  word  which 
is  the  very  extracts'^  of  Scotland's  case,  Jer.  xii.  4.  He 
sees  the  cause  of  God's  wrath  upon  man  and  beast  was 
upon  the  account  of  a  speech  among  the  people;  "  He 
shall  not  see  our  last  end."  A  strange  word  !  they  say 
we  shall  die,  and  run  through  hell  and  the  grave,  and 
leap  into  eternity,  and  the  Lord  shall  never  see  us  ! 
So  we  have  said,  God  shall  not  see  our  last  end;  be- 
cause we  see  not  God,  we  think  God  sees  not  us ;  but 
persuade  yourselves  Scotland's  doom  is  given  up  in 
heaven.  And,  therefore,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
your  own  salvation,  see  what  God  is  doing.  I  will  tell 
you  what  He  is  doing ;  He  is  bidding  the  king  take 
his  dought  upon  His  shoulder,  in  the  twilight  of  the 
evening,  because  he  must  surely  go  into  captivity. 

"  Rise  up,  my  love,  7ny  fair  one,  and  come  away,^^ 
— Here  is  two  things  to  be  exponed.  i.  Christ 
exhorting  her  to  arise  and  come  away.  2.  Our 
Lord's  title  and  style  that  He  gives  her,  *^  My  love,  my 
fair  one."  The  exhortation  we  may  marvel  at.  What 
needs  our  Lord  bid  her  arise  and  come  away,  for 
she  cannot  but  wait;  for  he  is  corning  to  her. J  But 
if  Jesus  come  never  so  near  a  sitting  and  sleeping  soul 
(as  the  church  is  here)  Christ  and  that  soul  shall  never 
meet.     Before  ever  the  Lord  Jesus  and  we  meet,  we 

*  ** Extracts,"  the  sum;  the  essence. 

t  Ezekiel  xii.  3,  6,  **  Stuff."  The  "dough"  is  from  Exodus 
xii.  34. 

%  **  And  loving  her  is  an  answer,"  is  added  in  the  old  copy— 
unintelUgible. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


325 


must  once  be  wakened,  and  set  upon  our  feet;  'tis 
true  our  Lord  Jesus  comes  to  us  all  lying ;  but  before 
He  and  we  have  struck  hands  together,  we  must  be 
on  our  feet.  Ye  have  a  notable  example  of  this, 
Cant.  V.  Christ  comes  a  far  journey  to  His  spouse, 
our  dear  Lord  Jesus,  His  head  and  His  locks  were 
wet  with  dew  and  rain.  He  comes  to  the  door.  He 
speaks  to  her,  and  she  to  Him,  there  is  but  a  thin 
door  betwixt  them,  men  would  think  they  will  meet 
now;  and  yet  for  as  near  as  Christ  was  to  her  they 
meet  not;  He  goes  His  way,  and  that  was  upon  the 
account  she  would  not  soil  her  feet,  and  open  to  Him. 
The  reason  is,  heaven  and  salvation  come  to  no  man 
in  a  dream.  There  be  two  graces  given  to  the  chil- 
dren of  God  when  the  Lord  and  they  meet,  God's 
knocking  and  calling,  or  grace  knocking  and  calling 
without;  and  God's  wakening  grace  stirring  up  the 
soul  within.  When  Christ  comes  near  you  in  the 
word  and  sacraments  beware  of  security.  I  know 
none  in  God's  word  that  sleeped  when  they  had  the 
presence  of  Christ  with  them,  but  the  three  disciples. 
And  they  wakened  with  sorrowful  hearts,  they  lost 
their  Master,  and  never  got  Him  again  till  He  was 
shamefully  put  to  death.  Oh !  security,  security ! 
may  be  called  the  Christian's  falling  sickness,  wher- 
ever this  sickness  comes  upon  him,  it  will  cast  him 
into  the  fire  and  into  the  water.  Solomon  had  a  bed 
watched  about  with  "threescore  valiant  men,  that 
were  expert  in  war  "  (Cant  iii.  7).  The  spiritual  mean- 
ing is,  Christ  is  our  Solomon,  and  the  king  of  peace, 
that  dwells  in  our  hearts,  and  the  souls  of  His  children, 
by  faith ;  (He  lies  betwixt  their  two  breasts),  so  the 
bed  of  Christ  must  be  guarded  by  more  than  three- 
score watchful  thoughts,  for  fear  Christ  should  be 
stolen  out  of  the  soul,  when  the  soul  sleeps:  and  for 


326  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


fear  that  the  new  creature,  or  the  image  of  God  in 
man  should  be  destroyed.  Sleeping  is  an  enemy  to 
health,  when  used  too  much,  especially  in  the  spring 
time,  for  it  breeds  fevers,  and  many  dangerous  diseases; 
much  waking  preserves  the  health.  When  the  Gospel 
is  in  a  land,  then  is  spring  time ;  and  ye  lose  the  life 
of  godliness,  and  fall  in  dangerous  diseases  of  soul,  if 
ye  fall  asleep  then.  It  is  true,  God  dealeth  mercifully 
with  His  own  electa  howbeit  they  be  secure,  and  for- 
sake them  not,  but  it  is  not  their  deserving.  David 
cried  to  Abner,  because  he  watched  not  carefully  his 
master,  Saul,  i  Sam.  xxvi.  i6,  "As  the  Lord  liveth,  ye 
are  worthy  to  die,  because  ye  have  not  kept  your 
master,  the  Lord's  anointed."  So  it  may  be  said  to 
many  Christians,  "  As  the  Lord  liveth,  ye  are  worthy 
of  death,  because  ye  watched  not  over  Christ  when 
dwelhng  in  your  hearts." 

Now,  if  you  shall  ask  for  a  guard  to  watch  the  soul, 
take  these  following.  The  first  soldier  that  should  be 
set  in  the  very  entry  of  your  soul  is,  "  the  fear  of  God^ 
See  how  excellently  these  two  are  conjoined,  as  the 
cause  and  the  effect,  fearing  of  God,  and  running 
away  from  evil.  The  second  soldier  to  set  at  the 
door  of  your  soul  is,  sobriety  and  temper ance^  Noah 
and  Lot  forgot  these,  and  therefore  they  fell  into 
a  nap  or  sleep.  This  sobriety  is  a  modest  and  wise 
carriage,  in  the  enjoying  of  the  pleasures  of  this 
life.  I  Peter  v.  8,  "  Be  sober  and  vigilant,"  &c.  The 
third  soldier  is  that  virtue  which  Solomon  calls  discre- 
tio7i;  let  it  be  before  the  door  to  try  what  guests  come 
into  the  soul,  what  thoughts  enter  in.  As  the  apostle 
John  says,  "  Try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of  God  or 
not."  One  devil  is  like  another  devil,  and  when  we 
are  thinking  we  are  holding  out  one,  another  rushes 
in.    The  fourth  soldier  is  suspicion  and  fear  of  our  own 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


327 


7uays,  which  should  hold  us  waking.     "Blessed  is  the 
man  that  feareth  always  "  (Proverbs  xxviii.  14).     Paul 
says  to  Timothy,  **  In  all  things  watch;"  even  in  the 
things  of  this  life,  in  the  setting  a  cup  to  our  head,  in 
the  putting  a  bite  in  our  mouth,  or  a  soup  at  table,  we 
should  watch.      If  that  seems  to  be  but  a  feckless 
business,  yet  the  devil  entered  into  Judas  with  a  soup ; 
it  is  to  make  us  careful  between  the  hand  and  the 
mouth,  to  look  to  ourselves.     To  speak  two  pitiful 
words  to  a  friend  seems  a  small  matter;  yet  when 
Peter  said  to  our  Lord,  "  Master,  pity  Thyself,*'  he  was 
the  devil's  agent  in  that.     Believe  never  well  of  your- 
self, nor  of  the  old  man  within  you.     Let  no  man  pass 
his  word,  or  be  caution  for  his  o^\n  heart,  "  for  the  heart 
is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked, 
who  can  know  it  ?"  (Jer.  xvii.  9).  The  fifth  soldier  that 
stands  at  the  door  of  the  heart  is  vieditatmi  on  death; 
let  the  meditation  of  death  stand  in  the  threshold  of 
the  door.    Wherefore  doth  Jerusalem  (Lam.  i.  9)  come 
doN^Ti  wonderfully?  but  because  she  remembered  not 
her  last  end.     If  men  would   remember  Christ  and 
that  death  and  judgment  come  in  the  night  as  a  thief, 
they  would  have  their  hand  ever  at  the  door  bar,  and 
stand  behind  the  door,  watching  till  the  Lord  should 
knock,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  whom  his  Lord  shall  find 
so  doing.''     The  sixth  soldier  that  keeps  the  soul  ever 
on  foot,  is  a  continual  practice  of  good,  and  walking 
with   God,      Moving,  walking,  and  serious  business 
keep  men  from  sleeping.     Only  be  even-down  honest 
with  God,  walking  A\ith  Him  in  sincerity  and  truth, 
looking  into  His  mercy,  justice,  kindness,  and  power. 
Remember  the  great  work  of  your  salvation,  the  keep- 
ing of  an  immortal  soul,  the  gaining  or  losing  of  Christ. 
The  seventh  soldier,  and  last  man  of  the  guard,  that  I 
shall  mention  at  this  time  is  Faith^  which  tells  us  of 


328  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


the  particular  passages  of  heaven,  hell,  and  judgment, 
of  the  wiles  and  devices  of  the  roaring  lion.  And 
these  be  Solomon's  valiant  men  that  watch  about  His 
bed  (Song  iii.  7).  I  mean  the  graces  of  God  that  keep 
Christ  in  the  soul. 

In  this  compellation  there  are  two  things  to  be 
cleared,  i.  That  He  calleth  her  His  love  and  His 
fair  one.  (We  heard  before  how  the  Church  called 
Christ  HER  Beloved.)  2.  That  He  calls  her  in  this 
exhortation,  ^'  love  and  fair  one.'"  Therefore,  we  must 
once  for  all  expound  in  what  meaning  the  Church  is 
Christ's,  and  how  He  does,  in  law  and  equity,  appro- 
priate her  to  Himself,  as  His  own.  And  i.  We  are  to 
observe  that  Christ  has  a  right  to  the  Church  by  birth ; 
for  He  made  us,  and  by  the  law  of  creation  we  are  His, 
as  the  vessels  are  the  potter's.  And  man  did  continue 
Christ's  this  way,  even  till  He  sold  himself  to  Satan 
and  sin ;  and  now  by  nature  we  are  the  sons  of  God's 
wrath,  strangers  from  the  life  of  God  (Ephes.  iv.  18). 
Adam  did  us  this  ill  turn ;  he  sold  us  unto  Satan  for 
the  forbidden  fruit.  And  yet,  howbeit  the  inheritance 
was  sold,  Christ,  being  the  nearest  heir,  was  most  kindly 
tQ  US'"  as  we  say.  The  nearest  kinsman  among  the 
Jews  was  a  type  of  Christ.  Among  the  Jews,  he 
that  redeemed  land,  or  was  a  Goel,  Brother,  or  Re- 
deemer, behoved  to  have  these  two  in  his  person ; 
first,  he  behoved  to  have  riches  and  substance  to  pay 
the  sum  that  so  he  might  enter  into  the  inheritance ; 
secondly,  he  behoved  to  be  a  brother  or  a  near  kins- 
man, and  not  a  stranger.  Now,  these  two  were  in 
Christ.  I.  He  was  a  brother,  nearest  the  house;  He 
was  no  stranger,  but  Emmanuel,  *•'  God  with  us,"  and 
took  on  Him  not  the  nature  of  ansrels  but  the  seed  of 


*  Acted  according  to  His  near  relationship. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


329 


Abraham;  and  so  the  law  made  Him  nearest  heir,  and 
He  had  the  right  of  reversion.*^  And  then  2.  He  is 
a  kinsman  of  great  riches  and  substance;  for  He  was 
God  Himself,  the  Lord  of  lords,  and  Prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth  (Rev.  i.  5). 

Here,  then,  we  have  to  consider  i.  With  whom  our 
Lord  did  bargain.  2.  What  price  He  gave  for  His 
Church.     3.  How  He  takes  possession. 

There  were  three  sorts  of  persons  Christ  had  to  do 
with  in  redeeming  us.  i.  The  Lord,  whose  ^vrath 
and  justice  have  a  just  claim  to  sinners  ;  He  was  the 
principal  to  whom  the  price  of  redemption  should  be 
paid,  and  He  was  the  person  offended.  Jesus  satisfied 
Him,  paid  and  satisfied  Him  foreman,  so  that  He  said 
of  Him,  "This  is  my  well-beloved  Son,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased."  Now  there  was  many  claims,  and 
arrestments  upon  the  inheritance,  before  Jesus  got  it; 
there  were  parties  at  variance  to  be  reconciled.  There 
was  first  mercy  and  truth,  saying,  Alas  !  shall  silly  man 
die  ?  truth  and  justice  on  the  contrary  pleading.  Why 
should  not  man  die  ?  has  not  the  God  of  truth  said, 
that  sinners  shall  die  ?  Yes,  says  Jesus,  man  shall  die; 
man  shall  die,  for  His  word  must  be  true ;  I  am  man, 
I  am  made  of  the  Father,  that  I  might  die  for  sinners, 
and  truth  and  justice  shall  be  pleased,  for  I  will  die 
for  men  and  save  them  ;  and  mercy  shall  be  pleased 
also,  I  will  pity  man  and  give  my  blood  for  him.  Be- 
hold how  Jesus  made  mercy  and  justice  to  shake  hands 
and  kiss  each  other.  Blessed  be  our  Peacemaker  ! 
2.  The  law  and  the  sinner  were  at  red-warf  against 
each  other.  It  was  the  poor  sinner's  complaint,  *'I 
cannot  speak  an  idle  word,  or  think  an  idle  thought, 


*  In  Scotch  law,  reversion  is  the  right  to  redeem  property 
under  mortgage.  t  Violent ;  war  to  the  knife. 


330 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


but  it  presently  condemns  me."  And  the  law  cried 
out  against  the  sinner,  "  Man  does  neither  eat  nor 
drink,  sleep  nor  wake,  sleep  nor  think,  but  he  treads 
me  under  foot ;  my  curse  (says  the  law)  and  the  curse 
of  God  be  upon  him."  But  Jesus  answered,  "The 
curse  of  the  law  be  upon  Me,  all  the  elect's  idle  words 
and  thoughts  be  upon  Me ;  all  their  light  words  and 
sinful  deeds  be  upon  Me.'*  And  upon  this  satisfaction 
the  law  is  pleased  ^vith  man.  Whereas  before  it  was 
a  killing  and  condemning  letter,  working  wrath,  Christ 
turned  it  into  a  sweet  and  pleasant  way  to  heaven. 
See  what  the  child  of  God  says,  O  !  how  I  love  Thy 
law  !  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day  or  continually. 
Whereas  the  sinner  under  God's  wrath  says,  "  How 
hate  I  Thy  law,"  behold  Jesus  hath  made  the  believing 
sinner  and  the  law  shake  hands  together.  3.  There 
were  some  parties  that  usurped  the  inheritance,  but 
had  no  just  right  or  title  thereto,  viz.,  Satan,  that  arch- 
foe,  and  grand  enemy  of  man's  salvation.  But  Jesun 
would  use  no  law  with  Satan  ;  he  spoiled  principalities 
and  powers ;  for  man  being  God's  creature,  had  no 
right  to  sell  himself  to  God's  enemy. 

This  much  for  the  first  anent  being  God's  creature. 
As  to  the  second,  viz.,  the  frice^  He  gave  for  His  own 
Church,  His  own  precious  blood,  i  Peter  i.  10,  "  In 
whom  we  have  redemption  through  His  blood,  the  for- 
giveness of  sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  grace 
(Eph.  i.  7);  for  we  are  not  our  own,  we  are  bought  with 
a  price." 

A  third  point  is  anent  our  LorcTs  actual  possession; 
wherein  there  be  these  three  acts  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  "  All  that  the  Father  giveth  Me  shall  come 
unto  Me,  and  him  that  cometh  unto  Me  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out"  (John  vi.  37).  "I  have  mani- 
fested Thy  name  unto  the  men  which  thou  gavest  Me 


COMMUNION'    SERMONS. 


331 


out  of  the  world,  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them 
Me  "  (John  xvii.  6).  Upon  the  cross  Christ  paid  for  so 
many,  and  for  no  more.  "  I  lay  down  My  life  for  the 
sheep  "  (John  x.  15).  When  the  Father  has  given  them, 
and  the  Son  has  paid  the  price,  then  Jesus  has  right 
indeed,  but  ^\^n\.^possesszo?i.  He  has  them  still  to  seek 
in  the  highway  to  hell,  and  must  leap  in  with  the  sword 
of  truth,  and  His  sword  girded  upon  His  thigh,  and  take 
His  sword.  His  bow,  and  His  arrows  in  His  hand. 
After  He  has  fought  a  hard  battle  with  God's 
wrath,  and  won  the  field,  and  escaped  with  His  life. 
He  must  fight  against  the  rebels  whom  He  has  good 
right  to  by  virtue  of  His  blood,  and  must  pull  down 
every  stronghold  and  high  imagination  in  the  soul; 
and  must  come  in  and  put  the  devil  of  hell  to  the 
doors,  and  take  man  for  His  own  use  and  service.  He 
seeks  him  long  ere  He  gets  him  to  answer  when  He 
calls.  But  when  He  meets  with  them.  He  makes  a 
covenant  with  them,  and  they  become  His.  *^  Now 
when  I  passed  by  thee,  and  looked  upon  thee,  behold, 
thy  time  was  a  time  of  love ;  and  I  spread  my  skirt 
over  thee,  and  covered  thy  nakedness ;  yea,  I  sware 
imto  thee,  and  thou  becomest  mine,  and  I  entered  into 
a  covenant  with  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God''  (Ezek.  xvi.  8). 
There  be  five  things  that  give  Jesus  a  right  to  us. 
I.  The  Father's  giving  us  in  election.  This  is  not  so 
much  an  actual  giving,  as  a  purpose  to  give,  for  He 
but  marks  us  for  the  giving,  and  here  the  Father  says. 
Son,  win  them  and  have  them.  2.  The  Son  takes  on 
our  nature,  and  in  that  becomes  an  heir  to  old  Adam, 
to  redeem  his  mortgage.  3.  The  Son  gives  a  price  for 
us  on  the  cross.  4.  The  Father  makes  a  second 
resignation  of  man,  and  says,  Son,Thou  didst  sweat  for 
man,  behold  I  give  him  to  Thee,  "  Ask  of  Me,  and  I 
will  give  Thee  the  heathen  for  Tliine  inheritance,  and 


332 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Thy  possession  " 
(Psal.  ii.  8).  "  He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth'' 
(Psalm  Ixxii.  8).  O !  welF  is  our  soul  when  the  Father 
and  the  Son  come  (if  we  may  so  speak)  to  bidingf  and 
loving.  5.  The  Son  seeks  our  consent,  and  brings  us 
in,  and  says  unto  us,  as  it  were,  what  think  ye  ?  will 
ye  put  in  your  names  with  Mine  ?  And  this  should 
teach  us  our  whole  life  to  suspect  our  ways,  even  in 
God's  ways  or  service,  when  we  please  ourselves.  We 
should  serve  God  as  if  we  were  not  our  own.  A 
Christian  is  in  a  soldier's  state,  having  received  bounty- 
money,  and  the  captain  having  enrolled  his  name, 
he  is  no  more  his  own  man,  he  is  his  captain's.  There 
be  many  ^v^lo  wait  upon  God,  like  these  they  call  de- 
pendents, waiting  upon  a  nobleman ;  they  are  content 
to  ride  with  the  nobleman,  and  at  times  to  serve  him, 
and  attend  on  him.  Yet  it  is  for  his  countenance  or 
some  gain  in  the  meantime,  they  will  not  be  tied  to  a 
daily  onwaiting;  they  would  for  all  that  be  their  own 
men,  and  live  at  liberty  in  their  own  houses.  So  there 
be  a  number  in  the  world,  that  are  God's  dependers  and 
onwaiters  as  they  are  called,  who  at  a  start,  will  ride 
and  run  for  God,  and  profess  they  are  Christ's;  yet  they 
will  serve  their  lusts  and  please  themselves,  or  follow 
their  own  pleasures ;  they  will  not  wait  on  as  God's 
chamber-boys.  But  if  ye  be  Christ's,  ye  must  be  His 
chamber-boys,  and  not  have  a  house  or  calling  of  your 
own  to  serve  your  lusts  with.  Ye  must  stand  always 
before  Him  as  a  page  waiting  on,  and  not  like  a  landed 
gentleman,  that  keeps  a  day  of  lawj  with  a  certain 
nobleman,  and  perhaps  for  a  year  after  will  not  saddle 

*  Good  is  it  for  the  soul.  +  Staying  with  us. 

X  Some  special  day  in  the  year  ;  a  court-day. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


ZZ2* 


a  horse  for  hirn.  We  deal  with  God  as  with  children, 
who  give  and  then  take  again,  and  we  be  like  some  that 
sell  the  land,  and  yet  keep  possession.  We  sell  ourselves 
to  Christ,  and  yet  keep  our  hearts  in  our  own  possession. 
Now,  beloved,  ye  all  deem  yourselves  to  be  the  re- 
deemed of  Christ,  and  I  would  it  were  so  ;  but  if  ye 
be  redeemed,  ye  are  redeemed  both  in  body  and  soul, 
and  ye  are  not  your  own,  neither  must  ye  be  your  own. 
Your  tongue  is  not  your  own,  Christ  has  bought  it 
with  the  rest  of  your  body;  ye  must  not  therefore 
speak  what  seemeth  good  unto  you.  Your  hands  and 
your  feet  are  not  your  own,  ye  must  not  work  and  walk 
at  your  own  pleasure.  Your  eyes  and  heart  are  not 
your  own,  ye  must  not  look  to,  or  think  what  ye  please 
or  desire,  and  let  the  affections  run  out  after  Christ, 
with  the  bridle  in  their  teeth !  for  ye  must  be  either 
Christ's  or  your  own.  Wrong  not  our  Lord  Jesus,  to 
spoil  Him  of  His  right.  And  again;  give  Christ  pos- 
session, for  in  His  word  and  sacraments  He  brings  all 
His  rights  with  Him.  The  decree  is  *' Whosoever  be- 
lieves is  Mine."  Amen,  dear  Jesus.  "As  many  as  I 
paid  the  price  of  My  blood  for  are  Mine."  In  comes 
Christ  by  His  Spirit  to  the  believer's  heart  saying,  *'  I 
paid  the  price  with  My  blood  for  John,  Mary,  and  all 
others  of  the  elect,  therefore  they  are  Mine."  Now,  if 
ye  can  believe,  see  how  you  and  Christ  meet.  He  takes 
possession*  of  you  earth  and  stone  this  day.  Then,  will 
ye  not  believe  ?  O !  then,  ye  put  Christ  out  of  His 
possession  :  beware  Christ  do  not  go  to  law  with  you. 
For  it  is  so  with  all  mankind;  we  must  compound 
with  Christ,  and  give   Him   what   He   will,   that   is 

*  In  the  old  copy,  ''^possession  of  earth  and  stone.''^  The 
allusion  is  to  the  custom  of  giving  a  turf  or  stone  to  the  person  in 
delivering  an  estate  to  the  person. 


334  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


obedience  of  faith :  otherwise  if  men  will  not 
beHeve  they  renounce  the  Gospel;  they  force ^' 
Christ's  infeftment.  They  say,  Let  Christ  say  what 
He  will,  and  do  what  He  will,  I  will  bide  the  worst, 
I  will  not  agree.  What  then  remains,  but  that 
God  may  say.  Since  ye  appeal  to  the  law,  ye  shall  go. 
And  alas  !  poor  sinner,  there  ye  will  get  sharp  justice, 
for  there  the  Judge's  first  and  last  word  will  be,  God's 
curse  upon  thee ! 

Has  the  Church  lain  down,  now  when  Jesus  has 
but  turned  His  back?  Has  she  forgot  that  He 
took  her  into  the  wine-cellar,  and  that  His  arms 
were  about  her  neck  and  waist,  when  she  thought 
his  fruit  sweet  to  her  taste  ?  Yea,  surely  !  (Howbeit 
Paul  hath  been  up  in  the  third  heaven,  he  will  grow 
proud  after  it.)  Yet  how  doth  Christ  waken  her? 
Not  with  a  rod  as  she  deserved,  but  in  great  meekness. 
Howbeit  she  had  forgotten  Jesus  Christ,  and  turned 
her  back  upon  Him,  yet  our  Lord  says  not,  I  shall 
never  welcome  thee  as  I  did  before,  I  shall  have  no 
more  ado  with  you.  No,  no,  but  in  meekness  he  says, 
''Rise  tip,  My  love,  My  fair  o?te,  atid  come  away.^^ 
When  once  Christ  has  gotten  His  poor  elect  within  the 
reach  of  mercy.  He  holds  mercy  and  truth  before  their 
eyes  (Cant.  v.  2.)  The  Church  shutst  Christ  to  the 
door,  and  yet  He  never  gives  her  a  hard  word ;  but, 
"  Open  to  Me,  My  sister,  My  love,  My  dove,"  for  your 
loving  husband  stands  without,  with  His  head  all  wet 
with  dew,  and  His  locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night." 
He  spoke  never  a  word  to  Zaccheus,  Peter,  and  the 
thief  on  the  cross  that  died  with  Him.  "  Return  ye 
backsliding  children,"  that  is  God's  word  to  draw  Israel 

*  They  violently  reject.  Infeftment  is  the  act  of  giving 
possession.  t  Pushes. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  335 


to  repentance,  "  for  I  am  married  unto  you.^'  I  pray 
you  return,  we  may  not  sunder  and  part  so,  dear 
Israel.  "  He  shall  feed  His  flock  like  a  shepherd,  He 
shall  gather  the  lambs  with  His  arm  (He  has  not  a 
shepherd's  staff  to  cast  at  them),  and  carry  them  in 
His  bosom,  and  shall  gently  lead  those  that  are  with 
young"  (Isaiah  xl.  11).  If  ye  would  know  the  reason  of 
this,  then, 

1.  Wherever  the  spirit  of  adoption  is,  it  is  a  sweet, 
gentle,  and  meek  spirit,  and  mercy  is  God's  key  that 
agrees  with  our  hearts.  Christ  as  Mediator  does  always 
come  with  peace.  He  brings  good  news.  If  the  Gospel 
denounces  wrath,  it  but  puts  a  seal  to  the  law's  wrath, 
"  He  that  believes  not  is  condemned  already."  Wrath 
abides  on  him,  which  was  on  him  before. 

2.  To  whom  is  Christ  now  speaking  ?  He  is  speak- 
ing to  the  elect  that  are  in  Christ.  Now  if  Christ 
would  summon  a  child  of  God  before  Him  to  answer 
as  law  will,  he  would  refuse  to  obey  the  summons,  and 
why?  Because  he  would  say,  *^  I  am  not  under  the 
law,  but  under  grace,"  I  am  dead  to  the  law  as  a  cove- 
nant of  works,  though  under  it  as  a  rule  of  life,  I  have 
a  Saviour,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  law,  I  am  in 
Christ,  I  am  not  obliged  to  answer  that  Court ;  ye  will 
get  nothing  of  me,  I  am  not  lawbiding.  ^  But  ye 
will  say  then,  Does  not  Christ  threaten  in  the  Gospel, 
that  He  that  believes  not  is  condemned  already  ?  will 
He  not  thunder  out  judgments  against  His  own 
children?  and  convince  their  consciences  of  sin  by 
His  Holy  Spirit  ?  John  xvi.  8  says,  "  He  shall  con- 
vince the  world  of  sin.''  Writes  He  not  who  has  the 
seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  sharp  rebukes  against 
the  churches  of  Asia,  that  He  will  remove  the  candle- 

*  Subject  to  the  law's  demand. 


336  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


Stick  from  among  them  ?  I  answer,  God  threatens  in 
the  Gospel  indeed,  but  He  doth  it  this  way ;  he  never 
cuts  away  hope  of  mercy  so  long  as  the  Gospel  is 
preached.  The  Gospel  condemns  sin,  and  infidelity, 
and  denounces  wrath  :  but  this  is  always  a  new  song 
in  the  end  of  it,  "  Believe  and  repent  for  all  that  ye 
have  done,  and  ye  shall  be  saved."  But  at  the  first 
breach  the  laws  says,  "  The  wrath  of  God  and  hell  be 
upon  sinners."  And  howbeit  sinners  would  repent,  yet 
the  law  will  hear  of  no  repentance ;  the  Gospel  says 
repent,  or  else  ye  shall  perish. 

3.  Christ,  the  Mediator,  speaks  of  judgment,  even 
to  the  elect,  but  not  as  mediator.  He  knows  the 
tongue  and  legs  of  the  severe  and  self-condemning  law, 
and  then  He  speaks  to  the  old  man,  to  sin  that  dwells 
in  the  members.  But  the  new  man  is  the  child  of 
God.  Although  God  Himself  should  come  against 
him  in  law,  he  would  say,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  law,  I  am  dead  to  the  law,  the  law  was  my  first 
husband,  and  I  am  married  to  a  second  husband,  even 
to  Christ  Jesus.  And  here  the  Lord  Jesus  in  threat- 
ening the  elect  with  His  judgment,  and  with  the  law, 
and  wrath,  is  even  like  a  man  that  summons  his 
friends  before  a  judge,  but  never  calls  ^  the  sum- 
mons. Why  ?  They  agree  at  home,  and  he  passes 
from  his  claim.  Jesus  will  summon  His  friend  before 
the  Judge  of  the  world  to  answer,  and  threatens  them; 
but  in  the  meantime  He  sends  His  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
soul,  as  a  daysman,  that  makes  us  agree  with  Christ, 
and  grip  to  His  death ;  so  our  dear  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
passes  from  His  claim,  and  we  agree.  For  a  believing 
sinner  in  Christ  will  never  be  heard  before  a  judge; 
they  agree  at  length  betwixt  themselves.     You  shall 

*  Actually  enforces  it — like  calling  in  debts. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


337 


get  this  doctrine  warranted  and  proven  from  Jeremiah 
xxxi.  20.  ^^  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ?  is  he  a  pleasant 
child  ?  for  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do  earnestly 
remember  him  still."  I  summoned  Ephraim,  my  dear 
son,  before  my  tribunal,  and  I  have  denounced  fearful 
judgments  against  him,  but  think  ye  God  will  call  the 
summons,  and  bring  on  the  judgments  ?  Nay,  read 
the  following  words,  ''  For  since  I  spake  against  him, 
I  do  earnestly  remember  him  still ;  therefore  my  bowels 
are  troubled  for  him  :  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon 
him,  saith  the  Lord."  What  is  that  else  but  this  ? 
Howbeit  I  have  summoned  Ephraim,  yet  I  shall  never 
call  *  the  summons ;  I  shall  cancel  the  processes  and 
pass  from  my  claim.     O,  well  said,  sweet  Lord  ! 

Now  let  us  apply  the  doctrine.  The  Gospel  speaks 
nothing  in  effect  to  God's  children,  but  ^'  j\Iy  heart  and 
my  joy ;  "  it  says  only,  "  Arise,  my  fair  one,  and  conie 
away''  Yet  doleful  shall  the  day  be  that  comes  on 
them  who  contemn  the  Gospel,  and  the  offers  of  Christ 
and  His  righteousness  held  forth  therein.  O  how  good 
a  case  are  they  in  that  are  found  in  Christ ;  O  woeful 
will  be  the  case  of  such  as  reject  Him.  Such  as  are  in 
Christ,  they  need  not  thank  the  law  for  any  mercy  they 
get.  Yet  the  law  can  hinder  no  man  from  God's  mercy; 
and  there  are  good  news  following  notwithstanding  of 
all  the  hard  news  that  the  law  speaks  of.  But  such  as 
sin  against  the  Gospel,  there  shall  never  another  Gospel 
be  preached  unto  them ;  for  the  next  Gospel  that  the 
rebels,  who  hate  God,  shall  hear  shall  be,  "  Depart 
from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire."  The  Gospel- 
time  is  a  dangerous  time  for  a  hard-hearted  sinner. 
We  in  Scotland  are  now  between  heaven  and  hell — 
either  now  or  never !     This  Gospel  is  God's  mariner 

Carry  it  out  into  effect  at  law. 
V 


338  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


crying,  '^  Tide  !  tide  !  who  will  sail  to  Canaan?"  God 
says,  Hear  Him  now,  or  else  God  shall  be  silent,  and 
ye  shall  cry  next  to  hills  and  mountains  to  fall  on 
you.  But  here  is  the  case  of  our  Kingdom  ;  mercy  is 
fully  holden  out  to  us,  and  laid  open  to  us,  and  we 
have  trodden  it  under  foot.  There  are  but  two  meet- 
ings in  the  world  ;  the  first  is  the  meeting  of  a  broken- 
hearted sinner  and  a  merciful  God — this  meeting  we 
have  now.  The  other  meeting  is  fast  coming,  and  it 
is  a  meeting  betwixt  a  guilty  sinner  and  a  wrathful 
Judge.  But  if  God  and  His  Kingdom  meet  not  in 
wrath,  for  the  contempt  of  the  Gospel  and  other  great 
and  grievous  sins.  He  has  forgotten  to  be  just  who  is 
holy  and  just  in  all  His  ways. 

"  Come  awayP — ^This  part  of  the  exhortation  is  as 
much  as  if  our  Lord  would  have  the  Church  leave  some 
place  she  is  in  and  come  to  Himself  Man  never  need 
think  to  come  to  Christ  and  bring  his  old  sins  with  him. 
God  finds  fault  with  His  people  for  this  in  Jeremiah 
vii.  9,  lo,  "  Will  ye  steal,  murder,  and  commit  adultery, 
and  swear  falsely,  and  burn  incense  unto  Baal,  and 
walk  after  other  gods  whom  ye  know  not ;  and  come 
and  stand  before  Me  in  this  house,  which  is  called  by 
My  name  ?"  Many  come  to  Christ  as  the  young  man 
that  kept  the  commandments  from  his  youth.  Many 
come  and  would  fill  God's  hand  with  sacrifices  and  new 
moons,  as  Isaiah  i.  1 1-17.  But  God  puts  another  task 
in  their  hand  ;  "  Wash  ye,  make  you  clean,  put  away 
the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes,  cease 
to  do  evil,  learn  to  do  well."  Before  ever  John  the 
Baptist  spake  of  Christ,  he  begins  at  this.  Repent  and 
mend  your  lives.  If  Christ  would  welcome  all  that 
would  come  to  Him,  pleasing  themselves  with  a 
back-burden  of  sins  and  lusts,  he  would  have  a  thick 
court.     Well,  beloved,  ye  come  to  Jesus  (as  ye  think) 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


339 


when  ye  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  have  ye  brought 
your  lusts  with  you  ?  Is  there  a  sin  that  ye  have  pur- 
posed to  keep  ?  Then  I  give  you  your  doom  out  of 
Jeremiah  xv.  i.  God  says  of  such  men,  "  Cast  them 
out  of  My  sight,  and  let  them  go  forth ; "  a  doleful 
word ;  they  and  I  shall  never  see  each  other's  faces 
again  !  God  forbids  His  prophet  to  pray  for  them,  nor 
to  lift  up  a  cry  for  them,  for  He  says.  He  will  nor  hear 
them.  Would  any  man  say  that  Judas  was  welcome 
to  Christ,  who  came  and  kissed  Him,  and  in  the 
meantime  had  a  band  of  men  at  his  back,  that  were 
set  upon  killing,  and  not  upon  kissing  ?  Shall  men  be 
welcome,  then,  who  come  to  Christ's  house,  with  a 
burden  of  sin  upon  their  back?  who  would  crucify 
again  the  Lord  of  glory?  Christ,  in  the  word  and 
sacrament,  is  like  a  king  coming  into  a  prison,  and 
calling  out  so  many  by  their  names,  and  then  depart- 
ing and  causing  the  prison  doors  to  be  closed  again. 
AVhen  He  has  called  the  roll,  and  so  many  in  Corinth, 
and  Ephesus,  yea,  and  in  Scotland^  have  answered  as 
are  in  His  count  book.  He  seeks  no  more. 

"  For  lo  !  the  7ut?iter  is  past  J' — In  these  words  Jesus 
tells  the  spouse,  that  the  winter  is  past ;  Christ  invites 
His  bride  and  Church  to  rise  out  of  her  dead  sleep, 
and  to  come  to  Him ;  and  the  argument  is  taken 
from  the  time  and  season  which  is  fit  for  journeying. 
It  is  now  the  spring  and  summer  quarter,  and  winter's 
rough  weather  is  past  and  gone ;  therefore,  my  love, 
^^  come  away."  The  like  reason  does  our  Lord's  Spirit 
use.  Rom.  xiii.  12,  ^^The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day 
is  at  hand  :  let  us  therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  dark- 
ness, and  let  us  put  on  the  armour  of  light." 

Doctrine  I.  The  first  doctrine  is;  the  militant  church, 
while  here,  she  has  always  a  summer  and  a  winter, 
according  as  she  enjoys  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  who 


340 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


hath  ^^ healing  in  His  wings"  (Malachi  iv.  2.)  "The 
dayspring  from  on  high  hath  visited  us  "  (Luke  i.  7,  8), 
and  "Gentiles  shall  come  to  Thy  light,  and  kings  to  the 
brightness  of  Thy  rising"  (Isaiah  Ix.  i,  2,  3).  "lam 
the  light  of  the  world  "  (John  viii.  12).  Now,  when  the 
sun  departs,  when  Jesus  goes  away,  then  it  is  dead 
winter  with  the  Church.  So  then  ye  see  that  the  doc- 
trine is  warrantable  from  Scripture.  It  is  clear  that 
under  Joshua  the  Church  had  her  summer  and  fair 
weather ;  the  prince  of  their  salvation  did  fight  for  them 
and  their  enemies  were  subdued  under  them  (Josh.  v. 
14).  Again,  the  Lord  left  them  many  times  under  the 
Judges,  and  sold  them  to  their  enemies,  and  this  was 
their  winter,  when  God  departed  from  them,  and  they 
worshipped  other  gods.  And  are  they  not  sometimes 
mourning,  at  the  rivers  of  Babel  ?  and  sometimes 
dwelling  peaceably  under  their  own  fig-tree  !  This  is 
true,  that  the  Church  in  respect  of  outward  peace  and 
war  is  changeable ;  for  she  must  wade  through  one 
water,  and  then  she  goes  some  miles  on  dry  land,  and 
then  a  water  again.  2.  In  respect  of  the  outward  min- 
istry of  the  word,  Christ,  when  He  has  taken  such  as 
the  Father  has  marked,  then  He  blows  out  the  candle. 
3.  In  respect  of  His  felt  presence.  He  is  ever  coming 
and  going,  and  He  must  up  to  court  to  His  Father, 
and  send  down  love-letters  to  us  again.  Christ  Jesus, 
in  the  power  and  ministry  of  the  word,  is  an  abiding 
heritage  to  no  people.  Our  Lord  is  riding  through  the 
world,  on  the  white  horse  of  the  Gospel,  riding  indeed 
triumphantly,  and  as  His  people  welcome  Him,  so 
does  He  remain.  Christ  Jesus  in  the  Gospel,  is  like 
a  king's  servant,  that  comes  into  a  prison,  where  there 
is  neither  coal  nor  candle,  and  brings  a  lighted  candle 
in  His  hand,  with  a  roll  of  100  or  200  among  10,000, 
and  the  King's  warrant  to  bring  so  many  out;  He  calls 


COMMUyiON  SERMOyS. 


341 


the  roll  and  brings  them  out,  and  blows  out  the  candle, 
and  then  shuts  the  prison  doors  again,  and  lets  the 
rest  lie  there  till  the  day  of  execution.  Jesus  comes 
to  blind  Scotland,  and  finds  them  all  in  Satan's  prison, 
without  any  light ;  He  has  two  papers  in  His  hand  ; 
one  wherein  the  evangel  is  written ;  in  it  He  preaches 
the  casting'^  up  of  the  prison  doors  to  the  captives ;  in 
the  other  the  names  of  the  elect.  Now  the  roll  is 
called,  answer,  for  the  winter  will  come,  and  then  the 
prison  doors  will  be  closed.  Christ  is  amongst  us  now 
on  horseback,  the  summer  is  now  well  near  an  end. 
Ye  know  what  be  the  tokens  of  winter  ?  Before  the 
winter,  the  leaves  fall  off  the  trees  :  men  now  fall  from 
their  profession ;  many  are  ashamed  to  own  Christ, 
and  to  profess  Him,  they  wdil  not  be  called  Puritans. 
Trees  dry  up,  and  cast  their  fruit ;  and  become  barren  ; 
ye  never  saw  the  Gospel  barrener  in  good  works,  and 
alms  deeds  than  now.  The  very  repairing  of  God's 
house,  in  our  own  parish  church,  you  need  go  no 
further, — the  timber  of  the  house  of  God  rots,  and  we 
cannot  move  a  whole  parish  to  spend  twenty  or  thirty 
pounds  Scotst,  upon  the  house  of  God  to  keep  it  dry. 
Doctrine  H. — A  people  in  a  land  are  in  a  lamentable 
case  when  Christ  and  His  Gospel  is  not  among  them. 
Let  men  that  want  Christ  go  where  they  will,  the  wind 
is  ever  upon  their  face  ;  it  is  always  dead  winter  with 
them.  Ezekiel  (xvi.  4,  5)  says,  ^^In  the  day  thou  wast 
born,  thy  navel  was  not  cut,  neither  wast  thou  washed 
in  water  to  supple  thee ;  thou  wast  not  salted  at  all, 
nor  swaddled  at  all.  None  eye  pitied  thee,  to  do  any 
of  these  unto  thee,  to  have  compassion  upon  thee;  but 


*  The  throwing  open ;  the  expresdon  may  allude  to  *  *  casting 
up  "  the  portcullis  of  a  castle, 
t  About  thirty  or  fifty  shillings. 


34^ 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


thou  was  cast  out  in  the  open  field,  to  the  lothing  oi 
thy  person,  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  bom."  Hosea 
vii.  11-13,  ^^Ephraim  is  a  silly  dove  without  heart;  they 
call  to  Egypt,  they  go  to  Assyria.  When  they  shall  go, 
I  will  spread  my  net  upon  them ;  I  will  bring  them  down 
as  the  fowls  of  the  heaven;  I  will  chastise  them.  Woe 
unto  them  !  for  they  have  fled  from  me,  destruction 
unto  them  !  because  they  have  transgressed  against 
me."  In  such  a  case  it  being  winter,  there  is  no 
fit  season  for  travelling  to  Christ,  the  rivers  and  waters 
are  all  aloft  and  swelled ;  and  the  great  river  of  the 
displeasure  of  a  wrathful  God  is  betwixt  the  soul  and 
Christ,  and  neither  man  nor  horseman  dare  venture 
upon  that  river.  Then  let  men  who  are  not  in  Christ 
judge  of  their  own  case  as  they  please,  they  cannot  go 
to  table,  or  yet  to  bed,  but  the  vengeance  of  God  is 
hard  upon  their  back,  for  they  that  want  Christ,  "walk 
in  the  vanity  of  theirmind"  (Eph.  iv.  17,  18).  "Having 
the  understanding  darkened,  being  alienated  from  the 
life  of  God,  being  past  feeling."  There  are  frozen 
hearts,  and  howbeit  all  the  devils  in  hell  dance  upon  a 
frozen  heart,  it  feels  not.  A  man  who  is  sensible  that 
he  is  under  the  curse  of  the  law,  sees  the  wrath  of  God 
betwixt  him  and  God  as  a  great  river,  and  for  his  life, 
he  dare  neither  swim,  sail,  nor  wade  on  foot ;  Christ 
must  come  through  the  water,  in  the  great  ship  of  His 
bloody  merits,  and  so  carry  him  over  to  dry  land. 
The  soul  and  conscience  of  some  is  so  frozen,  that 
neither  God's  mercy,  Christ's  blood,  nor  the  fire  of 
hell's  terror,  will  melt  it ;  it  is  like  Jerusalem.  Zeph. 
i.  12,  "That  are  settled  on  their  lees;  that  say  in  their 
heart,  the  Lord  will  not  do  good,  neither  will  He  do 
evil."  Jeremiah  xlviii.  11,  What  are  your  privileges 
by  the  Gospel  ?  a.  Howbeit  we  are  bounded  by  the 
river  of  God's  wrath.     Yet  we  come  to  the  waterside 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


343 


and  cry  to  Jesus,  "  Lord,  take  me  over  !  Come  and 
hoist  sails  and  fetch  us  over.''  For  the  law,  and 
God's  wrath,  and  the  Spirit  accompanying  it,  will 
make  us  pray,  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  (Eom 
vii.  24).  b.  There  is  another  help  of  the  Gospel. 
We  know  not  the  way  to  heaven,  and  how  we  shall 
swim  over  the  river,  but  the  Gospel  is  God's  memor- 
andum, telling  us  the  way  from  this  town  to  that  town. 
It  tells  that  Christ  made  Himself  a  bridge  over  the 
water  and  river  of  God's  wrath.  O  it  is  the  sweetest 
time  we  have  in  the  world  when  Christ  and  the  Gospel 
is  among  us  I  Then  the  sun  shines  upon  our  Jerusalem, 
the  air  is  sweet,  hot,  and  calm.  The  love  of  Jesus 
being  shed  abroad  in  the  heart,  the  storms  of  God's 
wrath  are  over  and  gone,  and  the  law  dare  not  speak 
a  word  then ;  but  in  every  street  the  Lord  Jesus  is 
heard  crying,  "God's  mercy,  peace,  and  blessing  be 
upon  all  them  that  believe  on  the  Son  of  God." 

"  The  flowers  appear  upon  the  earths — Then  there  is 
a  fair  garden  in  the  Church :  the  hedge  of  it  is  the 
two  arms  of  God  Almighty  going  about  His  church, 
and  the  flowers  and  plants  in  it  are  the  men  of  Judah 
and  Israel.  His  own  people  fruitful  in  good  works, 
the  planting  of  the  Lord  in  whom  He  will  be  glorified. 
There  is  the  garden.  And  there  is  a  clear  fountain, 
our  Lord's  blood,  running  abundantly  to  all  thirsty 
sinners ;  and  in  the  midst  of  all  the  flowers  of  the 
garden  is  the  Rose  of  roses,  with  an  hundred,  yea  a 
thousand  leaves,  even  Jesus,  "'  the  Rose  of  Sharon.'' 
The  wind  that  blows  upon  this  garden  is  the  sweet 
north  and  south  wind  of  the  Spirit,  blowing  upon  the 
beds  of  spices  and  causing  them  to  cast  out  a  sweet 
smell.  And  the  voice  of  the  birds  sings  sweet  and 
glorious  music,  Christ  speaking  to  His  Church  in  His 


344 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


holy  word,  and  His  Church  speaking  to  Him  again  in 
supplications,  prayers,  and  thanksgivings.  What  plea- 
sure would  any  soul  have  in  the  way  to  heaven  which 
is  not  to  be  found  in  this  garden?  Men  seek  rest, 
Christ  promiseth  soul-rest.  Matthew  xi.  28-30,  "Come 
unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and 
learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly,  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  easy,  and 
My  burden  is  light."  And  do  men  decline  sorrow, 
sadness,  and  grief,  and  affect  pleasure  and  joy  ?  Then 
here  is  encouragement ;  for  "Wisdom's  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace."  The 
voice  of  rejoicing  and  salvation  is  in  the  Tabernacles 
of  the  righteous.  David  says  of  the  members  of  the 
church.  Psalm  xxxvi.  8,  "  They  shall  be  abundantly 
satisfied  with  the  fatness  of  Thy  house;  and  Thou  shalt 
make  them  drink  of  the  river  of  Thy  pleasures." 

But  I  know  the  way  to  heaven  is  judged  a  harsh  way, 
a  low-lifed,  sad,  and  melancholy  way,  full  of  tears 
and  mourning.  I  answer  :  it  is  known  to  all  divines, 
that  in  every  regenerated  man  there  is,  as  it  were,  two 
men,  the  new  man  and  the  old  man,  the  Spirit  and  the 
flesh  ;  and  these  two  men  have  contrary  ways,  contrary 
hearts,  contrary  hands,  contrary  judgments.  When 
the  children  of  God  think  the  way  to  heaven  unplea- 
sant, and  full  of  sorrow,  then  the  old  man  bears  rule 
in  the  soul,  and  that  is  but  the  opinion  of  the  old  man. 
The  way  to  heaven  is  not  the  worse,  though  it  be  so 
to  corrupt  nature,  which  judges  heaven  and  Christ  Him- 
self nothing  worth.  But  ask  the  opinion  of  the  new 
man,  what  he  thinks  of  the  way  to  heaven.  O  !  he 
will  say  !  God  is  dearer  to  him  than  thousands  of 
gold  and  silver !  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honey- 
comb !  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee  ?  and  there 


COMMUNION    SERMONS.  345 


is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides  Thee  "  (Psalm 
Ixxiii.  25).  If  ye  then  ask  what  is  the  reason  of  their 
mourning,  tears,  wrestHng,  agonies,  and  terrors  of  a 
guilty  conscience  ?  I  answer ;  we  may  not  think  that 
the  child  of  God,  in  His  way  to  heaven,  will  never  get 
a  shower  :  nay,  sometimes  near  mid-summer,  there 
will  fall  out  a  blast  of  hail;  but  the  nature  and 
season  of  the  year  will  soon  melt  and  dry  it  up,  and 
it  will  clear  in  the  west,  and  the  birds  will  renew 
their  songs  again,  and  the  roses  will  spread  their 
leaves  again  when  the  sun  shines.  So  even  whilst  it 
is  summer,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  will  hide  His  face 
from  the  poor  believer,  Christ  will  seem  to  go  away, 
and  the  conscience  will  quake  and  tremble.  It  was  so 
with  Hezekiah,  when  he  mourned  to  God  as  a  dove ; 
and  chattered  like  a  crane.  It  was  not  the  fear  of 
death,  but  because,  when  he  was  so  near  death,  God, 
in  His  feeling,  was  so  far  from  him.  It  is  said  of  the 
turtle  that  after  it  has  lost  its  marrow,  it  never  sits  on 
a  green  branch ;  the  soul  that  knows  v/hat  it  is  to  want 
Christ  under  these  terrors  will  never  look  a  blythe 
look  until  it  clear  in  the  west  again,  and  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  begin  to  break  the  clouds  of  His  wrath. 
See  ye  not  Job's  case  when  he  was  deserted  of  God?  '*  Oh 
that  I  might  have  my  request ;  and  that  God  would  grant 
me  the  thing  I  long  for  1  even  that  it  would  please  God 
to  destroy  me !  that  He  would  let  loose  His  hand  and 
cut  me  off!"  (Job  vi.  8,  9).  I  say,  no  man  knows  what 
it  is  to  want  God,  but  such  as  once  had  Him.  Such 
will  cry  when  He  deserts  them,  O  when  wilt  thou  return 
again  !  a  thousand  years  in  hell,  for  one  kiss  of  a  recon- 
ciled God  !  Men  will  say  this  is  winter  indeed,  and 
the  child  of  God  is  going  backward,  under  such 
conflicts.  I  answer,  that  nothing  grows  and  flourishes 
in  winter,  but  even  then  there  are  many  sweet  flowers 


346  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


in  the  soul  springing.  It  is  true,  sense  and  feeling 
wither,  for  it  is  not  its  time  of  year  to  grow  ;  but  now 
under  these  desertions  humility  grows,  feeling  of  guilt 
grows,  the  love  and  longing  to  be  kissed  with  the 
kisses  of  His  mouth  grows,  a  care  to  seek  God's  face 
grows,  and  smells  sweetly  like  the  rose  in  June. 

The  soul  is  never  under  such  a  good  case  as  now ; 
for  the  souls  of  God's  children  are  ever  but  in  three 
cases.  I.  Towards  Christ,  it  is  mid-summer  sometimes 
with  the  soul,  when  it  enjoys  God's  sweet  and  felt 
presence.  Sometimes  we  may  be  so  drunken  with 
sense,  that  we  become  proud  and  haughty.  We  think 
this  a  good  case  \  yet,  there  is  great  danger  that  we 
provoke  our  Lord  Christ  to  go  away  from  us.  There- 
fore, we  have  now  need  of  a  holy  fear,  and  of  ardent 
prayer  to  God  to  continue  our  case.  2.  The  soul  will 
be  in  such  a  winter,  that  the  Lord  will  withdraw  Him- 
self for  many  days  and  years,  and  yet  the  soul  is  so 
dead  in  sleepy  security  that  it  never  misses  Him.  This 
is  David's  case;  when  news  came  to  him  that  Uriah  the 
Hittite  was  slain,  he  called  it  a  chance  of  war,  and  sent 
Joab  word  to  renew  the  battle  again.  But  the  Lord 
had  then  left  David,  and  he  knew  it  not.  3.  The  third 
case  is  best  of  all,  when  God  is  minting*  to  go  away, 
and  the  child  of  God  holds  Him  fast.  And  be  per- 
suaded that  God  is  well  worthy!  your  souls,  when  it  is 
at  holding  and  drawing  betwixt  God  and  your  soul. 
When  God  is  saying  as  He  did  to  Jacob,  "  Let  Me  go 
for  the  day  breaketh,"  and  Jacob  said,  "  I  will  not  let 
Thee  go,  except  Thou  bless  me"  (Genesis  xxxii.  26). 
When  God  is  sounding  in  the  ear  of  Job's  conscience, 
"Depart  from   me   for   I    will   destroy   thee;"   Job 

*  Attempting ;  making  as  if  He  would, 
t  Perhaps,  *'well  worthy  of.'' 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


347 


answers,  "  Lord,  I  will  not  leave  Thee,  I  will  not  de- 
part from  Thee  :  I  will  trust  in  thee,  howbeit  thou 
shouldst  slay  me."  And  when  Christ  saith  to  the 
woman  of  Canaan,  I  came  to  the  world  for  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  I  came  not  for  you,  yet 
she  still  raps,  and  knocks,  and  cries  for  **  mercy, 
mercy,"  and  cries  on  Him,  "  Lord,  sayst  Thou  so,  that 
Thou  camest  not  for  me  ?  "  She  would  take  no  such 
answer.  Now  it  is  the  sweetest  season  in  the  year, 
when  faith  binds  and  holds  Christ  so  fastened  that  He 
cannot  win  away.  No  cord  will  hold  our  Samson  but 
faith,  love,  zeal,  new  desire  of  Christ,  humility,  &c. 
When  all  these  graces  flourish,  then  the  soul  has  joy 
and  comfort  in  Christ. 

Doctrine  III. — The  time  of  the  Gospel  is  but  short; 
it  is  but  a  summer  quarter,  or  thirteen  weeks  as  our 
text  bears ;  yea,  but  one  day,  Luke  xix.  42,  "  If  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day."  Yea, 
but  a  piece  of  a  day,  a  little  before  supper  time,  when 
the  King's  table  is  covered  for  His  guests,  (Luke  xiv. 
17).  The  longest  date  that  the  word  of  God  gives  to 
it  is  a  year  only,  "  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 
I  will  persuade  you  that  the  summer  runs  away,  and 
you  may  fear  that  Scotland's  summer  is  near  an  end  ; 
and  happy  are  they  that  embrace  the  time,  and  spend 
the  summer  quarter  in  journeying  to  Jesus  Christ.  The 
damned  in  hell  would  buy  time  at  the  expense  of 
lying  ten  thousand  years  in  hell  for  freedom  from  that 
place  of  misery  and  woe,  to  enjoy  the  evening  of  one 
of  our  summer  days.  Germany  and  Bohemia  mourn 
now  that  their  summer  is  gone,  as  it  is  to  be  feared, 
with  them.  And  we  have  cause  to  say  with  the  Church, 
Jer.  vi.  4,  "  Woe  unto  us  !  for  the  day  goeth  away,  for 
the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  stretched  out." 

Doctrine  IV. — When  the  Gospel  is  in  a  land,  and 


348  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


the  word  of  Christ  among  a  people,  in  life  and  power 
of  a  heavenly  ministry,  the  very  season  should  move  us 
to  come  to  Christ.  ^'  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at 
hand :  let  us  therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness, 
and  let  us  put  on  the  armour  of  light  "  (Rom  xiii.  12). 
As  if  the  apostle  would  say,  It  is  a  shame  to  lie  asleep 
when  the  day  is  come  and  the  night  away ;  therefore 
cast  off  your  night  clothes,  and  draw  on  your  coat,  put 
your  arm  over  the  bed-stock  and  reach  to  your  clothes; 
take  a  grip  of  Christ  and  put  Him  on  as  the  armour 
of  light.  "  But  let  us,  who  are  of  the  day,  be  sober, 
IDUtting  on  the  breast-plate  of  faith  and  love,  and  for 
an  helmit  the  hope  of  salvation"  (i  Thess.  v.  8).  The 
apostle  there  reasons  for  the  noble  parts  of  "faith  and 
love,"  and  to  cover  the  head  Avith  everlasting  glory. 
In  the  day  of  the  Gospel,  the  Lord  Jesus  holds  out  in 
His  right  hand  a  lanthorn,  and  a  fair  candle  in  it,  and 
is  crying,  "  Run,  run  fast !  Haste,  haste  into  Christ 
before  the  candle  be  blo^vn  out."  AVould  you  know 
what  the  Gospel  is?  It  is  Christ's  *^ cock-crowing," 
crying,  "  Up,  O  sleeping  world,  ye  have  far  to  go  ;  it 
is  along  Journey  to  heaven,  and  it  is  hard  upon  day; 
I  pray  you  ride  and  make  for  the  gate."  ^  The  Gospel 
is  Christ's  hour,  the  summer-sun ;  and  all  men  know 
that  the  summer-sun  is  God's  sandglass  set  above  our 
head  bidding  the  husbandman  plough,  sow,  reap,  for 
the  winter  is  at  hand — prepare  houses  and  fire  for  the 
winter  is  at  hand.  So  the  Gospel  is  Christ's  sandglass 
telling  us  the  hour  runs  away ;  labour  for  the  meat 
that  endures  to  everlasting  life;  provide  for  winter. 
The  last  trumpet  will  waken  the  deadest  and  deafest  of 
sinners  that  are  in  the  world,  and  those  that  are  in  the 
deepest  sleep;  but  they  shall  get  the  most  doleful 

*  Set  out  on  the  road. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


349 


wakening  who  sleep  when  there  is  a  candle  burning, 
and  a  sim  shining  on  their  heads  and  bedsides — and 
these  are  they  who  sleep  in  the  day  of  the  Gospel.  Men 
know  that  the  Gospel  is  Christ's  trumpet,  and  His 
voice,  calling  on  all  men  whom  it  reaches;  and  ye 
know  the  poor  man  in  the  Gospel  was  so  glad  when 
they  said,  ^^  Arise,  Christ  calleth  thee,'^  that  he  got  up 
in  haste  and  threw  his  cloak  from  him,  that  he  might 
be  the  lighter  and  nimbler  to  run  and  come  with  speed 
to  Jesus  Christ.  O  beloved,  up  now !  Christ  calls 
you  ;  cast  off  the  world  (it  is  an  heavy  cloak),  and  run 
to  Jesus.  And  though  men  be  obliged  in  the  suntide"' 
to  come  to  Christ,  yet  in  the  summer-tide  of  the  Gospel 
men  are  under  a  more  strict  obligation.  And  this  will 
more  appear  if  you  consider  what  way  the  Gospel  offers 
Jesus  Christ  unto  you.  Christ  is  the  food  that  feeds 
and  nourishes  His  people's  souls  ;  now.  He  cannot  be 
eaten  except  He  be  dressed,  and  prepared,  and  broken 
to  the  soul.  So  long  as  Christ  is  not  preached  in  the 
Gospel  and  offered  in  the  Sacraments,  He  is  a  whole 
Christ  and  does  not  feed  His  people.  But  when  we 
preach  Christ  before  you,  we  let  you  see  Him  torn, 
rent,  and  wounded  for  sin.  We  lay  Him  upon  your 
plate  or  trencher,  in  the  word  and  sacraments.  So  you 
see  it  is  summer  :  betwixt  God  and  you  be  it,  if  ye 
come  not  to  Jesus  Christ  again,  t 

If  we  speak  of  those  who  live  in  the  winter  of  ignor- 
ance, idolatry,  &c.,  and  never  heard  of  Christ  crucified; 
for  anything  I  know  Christ  has  not  made  a  covenant  of 
peace  with  them.  The  contract  is  but  drawn  up  in  a 
minutei  and  unsubscribed.    But  it  is  not  so  with  such 


*  During  the  time  the  sun  shines.    They  must  come  at  any  rate 
while  it  is  day.  t  Probably  "Anon  j  "  at  once. 

X  The  first  draught  of  the  writing ;  and  has  no  signature. 


350 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


as  }ive  under  the  drop  of  the  Gospel ;  for  Jesus  Christ 
has  formed  the  contract,  and  has  written  it,  and  ye 
know  that  a  contract  serves  for  nothing  except  it  be 
subscribed  by  both  parties.  Our  dear  Jesus,  to  His 
great  charges,  subscribed  the  contract  at  the  expense 
of  His  precious  blood.  Now,  in  the  summer  of  the 
Gospel,  He  offers  it  to  you  this  day ;  and  there  is  His 
word  for  it,  Isaiah  Ixi.  1,2.  Will  ye  consent  and  obey  ? 
The  contract  says  in  the  general,  "  He  that  believes 
has  life  everlasting ; "  and  in  the  word  and  sacraments 
the  Lord  comes  to  the  conscience  of  every  man  in  par- 
ticular and  says,  "Wilt  thou  believe?  Will  ye  quit 
yourselves  and  be  Chrisf  s  wholly?"  So  there  remains 
nothing,  beloved,  but  that  ye  say,  "  Amen  "  to  your 
Lord.  I  pray  now,  in  this  summer,  give  to  Christ  a 
good  answer.  So  then,  30  see,  when  the  word  of  the 
Gospel  is  preached  ye  are  obliged  in  a  special  manner 
to  come  to  Christ. 

This  doctrine  doth,  in  a  special  manner,  strike 
against  secure  sluggards,  and  such  as  contemn  the 
Gospel.  A  man  that  sins  against  the  law,  has  indeed 
God's  justice  as  a  contrary  advocate  to  plead  against 
him ;  yet  even  in  this  case  he  has  an  advocate  with 
God,  even  God's  mercy,  and  that  pleads  for  him,  and 
requests  Jesus  Christ  to  take  upon  Him  to  be  his 
mediator.  But  if  a  man  close  his  ears  at  Christ's 
voice,  in  the  Gospel,  and  sleep  in  summer  when  Christ 
calls  upon  him,  and  sin  against  the  Mediator,  and 
trample  under  foot  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant ; 
both  mercy  and  justice  doth  plead  against  him.  And, 
therefore,  he  that  sins  against  the  law,  justice  is  but 
angry  at  him;  but  he  that  sins  against  the  Gospel, 
justice  pursues  him  in  wrath,  and  the  very  mercy  of 
God  is  angry,  and  cries,  "  No  mercy  for  that  man,  that 
sins  under  the   sunshine,   and  summer  tide  of  the 


COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


351 


Gospel."  And  this  is  righteousness  with  God.  The 
Gospel  cries  mercy  once,  twice,  thrice ;  these  be  the 
sweet  and  comfortable  "  O  yeses,''**  proclaimed  upon 
the  cross  of  Christ,  viz.  :  "  Mercy,  mercy,  mercy,  to 
sinners  ! "  With  a  loud  voice,  the  Gospel  cries  this 
at  the  third  hour,  and  the  sixth,  and  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  at  the  very  striking  of  twelve,  at  the  very  going 
down  of  the  sun,  at  supper  time.  But  doth  Chorazin 
and  Bethsaida,  England  and  Scotland,  contemn  this 
sweet  voice?  In  God's  righteousness  and  judgments, 
they  shall  never  see  another  summer.  When  Lammas- 
windf  blows  and  summer  is  gone,  a  doleful  winter  of 
wrath,  and  all  devouring  fire  of  the  anger  and  judg- 
ment of  God,  shall  come.  A  man  that  has  but  one 
eye  should  keep  that  well.  We  have  all  sinned  against 
God's  justice  ;  nothing  remains  as  our  eye  to  see  God 
but  through  the  prospect  of  His  mercy.  If  we  lose 
mercy,  we  are  gone.  In  the  first  covenant,  God  takes 
man's  word  without  a  cautioner ;  in  the  second  cove- 
nant Jesus  became  a  cautioner  :  if  we  sin  against  our 
cautioner,  and  cast  out  with  our  advocate,  offering 
Himself  to  us,  we  have  none  to  speak  for  us.  A  man 
that  cannot  agree  with  Christ,  he  will  agree  with  none ; 
for  without  Him  there  is  no  access  to  God,  for  "  He  is 
the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

'^  Theflowei's  appear  on  the  earthP — It  is  time  now 
that  we  enter  upon  some  directions  upon  the  particular:}: 
evidences,  signs,  and  marks  of  summer.  The  first  sign 
is  the  appearaiice  offloivers  upon  the  earth ;  by  which 
I  understand,  the  holy  lives  of  the  saints,  which  are 
beautiful  in  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  as  the  flowers  in  summer 

*  A  French  term  **  Oyez,"  Hear  ye !  A  form  of  summons  to 
attend  at  a  court. 

t  The  beginning  of  August.    *'  Lammas  "  is  "  Loaf-mass  day. " 
X  In  the  old  copy,  "upon  the  particular,  upon  the  evidences," 


352  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


are  beautiful  in  the  fields  and  gardens.  '^  Israel  shall 
blossom  and  bud  as  a  rose,  and  fill  the  face  of  the 
world"  (Isaiah  xxvii.  6).  ^^And  they  of  the  city 
shall  flourish  like  grass  of  the  earth"  (Psalm  Ixxii.  16). 
*'  He  shall  grow  as  the  lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as 
Lebanon"  (Hosea  xiv.  5).  The  Church  is  God's  gar- 
den, and  plot  of  ground,  and  He  Himself  sets  flowers 
in  it,  by  the  ministry  of  the  word.  Here  there  is  a 
mark  of  the  true  Church  of  God,  that  the  word  is 
accompanied  by  the  effectual  working  of  God's  Spirit, 
that  sweet-smelled  flowers  grow  in  this  plot  of  ground, 
in  the  garden  of  the  word.  ^Vill  ye  know  what  makes 
the  Lord's  flowers  fruitful  in  His  vineyard  ?  There  be 
these  four  things  that  makes  all  Christians  fruitful  in 
it.  I.  The  Father's  husbandry;  He  is  a  good  husband- 
man, if  any  man  be  set  by  Him  he  must  grow. 
2.  Christ  is  a  piece  of  fertile  ground :  He  brings  forth 
a  hundred  bolls  for  one.  If  once  a  flower  be  planted  in 
Christ,  he  draws  life  from  Christ:  **For  if  we  have  been 
planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  His  death,  we  shall 
be  also  in  the  likeness  of  His  resurrection  "  (Rom  vi.  5). 
All  that  grows  fruitfully  to  God  must  be  planted  in  the 
death  of  Christ ;  for  when  Christ  died.  He  v/as  sown 
and  planted  in  the  earth,  and  the  third  day  He  came 
above  the  earth  and  budded.  So  our  body  of  sin  is 
sown  in  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the  third  day  the 
image  of  God  buds  up  again.  So  it  is  our  engrafting 
into  Christ  makes  us  fruitful,  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are 
the  branches ;  he  that  abideth  in  Me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit ;  for  without  Me 
ye  can  do  nothing  "  (John  xv.  5).  But,  beloved,  there 
be  two  things  in  an  engrafting,  i.  The  imps--'  to  be  en- 
grafted must  be  cut  off  .their  own  stock,  and  imped  in 

*  The  young  branch,  or  ?cion,  thru  is  engrafted, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  353 


another ;  so  we  must  be  cut  off  old  Adam,  and  must 
be  engrafted  in  Christ  Jesus.  2.  Then,  again,  the  stock 
in  which  the  graft  is  set  must  be  cutted  and  branched; 
for  we  were  not  planted  into  living  Christ,  but  into 
crucified  Christ  !  O  !  but  our  stock,  Christ,  was  fear- 
fully cutted  and  branched !  He  was  cloven  and  hagged 
in  body  and  soul,  and  we,  the  Lord's  flowers,  are  imped 
in  cutted  and  bleeding  Jesus  to  draw  life  out  of  His 
death. 

3.  Abundance  of  rain  makes  flowers  to  grow.  We 
are  watered,  and  washed  with  the  purging  blood,  and 
cleansing  water,  that  came  out  of  the  side  of  Jesus. 

4.  Flowers  must  have  sweet,  wholesome  air  that  will 
make  them  grow.  The  sweet  worthiness*  of  God's 
Spirit  rebuking  the  conscience  for  sin,  and  the  sweet 
south  wind  of  the  same  Spirit  comforting  the  soul,  blows 
upon  God's  flowers.  What  then  makes  so  many  stink- 
ing weeds  in  our  land,  so  that  God  may  say,  as  He 
said  of  the  people  in  Micah  vii.  4,  "The  best  of  them 
is  as  a  brier  ;  the  most  upright  is  sharper  than  a  thorn 
hedge  ?  ''  Pride  has  blossomed,  "violence  is  risen  up 
into  a  rod  of  wickedness"  (Ezek.  vii.  11).  "Judg- 
ment springeth  up  as  a  hemlock  in  the  furrows  of  the 
field"  (Hosea  x.  4).  Even  here  is  the  cause;  men  are 
not  planted  in  Christ,  but  grow  wild  upon  the  moun- 
tains of  the  earth  like  nettles  and  thorns.  And  gain 
is  a  flower  that  smells  sweet  to  many  sorts  of  people ; 
the  inordinate  pleasures  of  sin,  oppression,  covetous- 
ness,  bloodshed,  lust,  &:c.,  so  that  Christ  must  run 
out  of  His  garden  for  the  filthy  smell  of  the  ^weeds 
that  grow  in  it. 

"  The  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the 
voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land'' — The  turtle  is 

*  It  should  be  ''working." 
Z 


354 


COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


a  mourning  fowl,  and  is  especially  so  after  she  has  lost 
her  mate.  This  voice  is  heard  in  the  Church  uttered 
by  repenting  sinners  with  tears.  Alas  !  we  have  all 
lost  our  marrow  by  our  sins  ;  we  have  lost  God.  And 
this  is  Christ's  music  in  the  Church,  singing  and  mourn- 
ing,* mercy  and  judgment.  Christ  is  our  sweet  Night- 
ingale, that,  in  the  time  of  the  Gospel,  sings  sweetly. 
Wisdom  sings  without  in  the  streets  ;  for  the  evangel 
is  Christ's  love-song  compiled  by  Himself,  and  the 
matter  of  it  is  how  a  Prince  came  from  heaven  to  suitf 
a  wife,  and  He  loved  her  so  dearly,  that  He  lay  down 
on  the  hard  tree  of  a  cursed  cross,  and  died  for  His 
love,  and  thereafter  lived  again,  and  married  her,  a 
beloved  dame.  Now,  when  Christ  is  singing,  rejoice 
at  the  glad  tidings  of  mercy  and  salvation  3  be  won 
with  Christ's  sweet  music.  The  silly  fowl  is  deceived 
and  taken  by  the  deceiving  fowler's  voice,  which  draws 
her  to  the  net,  where  she  is  taken  and  slain.  O  !  that 
we  cannot  be  moved  with  the  pleasant  voice  of  Jesus, 
to  be  taken  as  captives,  rendering  ourselves  over  to 
Him.  Jesus  Christ  also  in  the  Gospel  does  mourn 
over  us,  and  speaks  of  judgment  with  tears,  as  He  did 
over  Jerusalem  (Luke  xix.  42),  "  If  thou  hadst  known, 
in  this  thy  day,  but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 
Beloved  friends,  that  hear  the  Gospel,  must  have  a  soft 
heart  to  it,  and  not  rejoice  when  Christ  laments,  and 
to  pipe  when  Christ  pipeth :  because  where  neither 
mercy  nor  judgment  will  move  a  people,  the  heart  is 
like  a  stone  that  will  not  receive  the  stamp. 

"  The  fig-tree  putteth  forth  her  green  figs,  a7id  the  vines 
with  the  tender  grapes  give  a  good  sinellJ^ — The  last  mark 
of  the  summer  of  the  Gospel  is,   that  the  fig-tree 


*  In  the  old    copy,    *  laughing"    comes  in  here,    without 
meaning.  t  To  woo. 


COMMUNION    SERMONS.  355 


abounds  unto  fruits,  which  smell  well  unto  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  conveniently  casten 
in  to  us  as  the  mark  of  the  spouse  of  Christ;  she  is 
fruitful  in  good  works.  Faith  cannot  want  holiness  of 
life.  *'  If  any  man  will  love  Me,  he  will  keep  My  com- 
mandments "  (John  xiv.  15).  "  Bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  repentance  ''  (Matthew  iii.  8).  "  Only  let  your  con- 
versation be  as  it  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ" 
(Phil.  i.  27).  When  God's  children  are  once  planted 
in  Christ,  they  begin  then  to  bud.  When  Matthew 
was  converted,  he  followed  Christ;  he  made  a  feast  to 
Christ,  there  is  his  bounty ;  he  invited  the  publicans 
and  sinners  to  Christ,  there  is  his  charity.  So  Job 
feared  God,  and  eschewed  evil.  Cornelius  prayed, 
and,  with  his  prayers,  his  alms-deeds  ascended  up  to 
heaven.  Dorcas  was  a  disciple  full  of  good  works. 
Many  are  disciples  in  profession,  but  they  are  empty 
vessels,  and  God  has  laid  upon  them  the  curse  of  the 
fig-tree.  They  are  reprobate  to  good  works.  God,  in 
His  righteous  judgment,  has  said  to  them,  *^  Never 
man  ripe*  fruit  of  thee  while  the  world  standeth. 
Thou  shalt  never  have  grace  to  do  a  good  turn  in  the 
Church  of  God."  Many  in  our  day  profess  Christ,  and 
give  up  their  names  to  Christ,  and  put  their  hand  to 
our  Lord's  charter,  and  yet  are  not  Christ's.  They 
have  made  shipwreck  of  the  faith,  and  a 'good  con- 
science. Like  men  that  after  they  have  sold  their 
lands  in  such  a  place,  and  subscribed  the  bargain, 
then  they  have  no  more  but  a  naked  title ;  so  when 
we  are  going  out  of  the  world,  we  may  take  nothing 
with  us ;  death,  as  master  porter,  waits  at  the  entry  of 
the  grave,  and  takes  all  from  us.     "  Blessed  are  the 

*  *'  Ripe,"  search  for.     Or  the  word  may  have  been  "  reap,'* 

gather. 


356  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  their 
labours,  and  their  works  follow  them/' 

''Arise,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  awayJ^ — Our 
Lord  doubles  the  exhortation,  arise  and  come  away, 
and  it  teaches  us  that — 

1.  Our  Lord  allows  not  to  His  children  one  hour's 
sleep.  When  He  calls  us  forth  to  watch,  He  bids  us 
watch  continually.  He  lets  us  see  how  ready  we  are  to 
fall  asleep.  When  the  Lord  turns  His  back  upon  us, 
our  hearts  are  like  the  paces'--'  of  a  clock,  that  must  be 
drawn  up  every  six  hours ;  we  are  down  upon  this 
earth  ;  except  the  Lord  draw  the  paces  of  our  hearts. 

2.  Our  Lord  would  have  present  obedience.  As 
soon  as  Christ  said  to  Zaccheus,  "  Come  down,"  he 
came  down  hastily,  and  when  our  Lord  bade  Matthew 
follow  Him,  he  stayed  not  to  tell  his  money,  nor  mark 
it  in  his  count-books,  but  came  presently  (Luke  v.  28). 

3.  The  doubling  of  this  exhortation  notes  the 
earnestness  of  Jesus,  to  have  the  spouse's  company. 
Christ  has  fair  weather  and  walks  in  pleasant  fields, 
yet  He  thinks  He  has  no  pleasure  except  He  have 
His  church  in  His  company.  O  !  so  t  serious  as  God 
is  in  the  conversion  of  a  sinner!  He  comes  out  in 
the  street,  "  and  crieth  upon  the  high  places  of  the 
city"  (Prov.  ix.  3);  like  a  man  that  sees  a  town  on  fire, 
urging  his  hands,  and  shouting  to  this  sleepy  world, 
seeing  the  wrath  that  is  coming  on  them,  and  he  has 
both  prayers  and  tears,  (Luke  xix.  42).  "We  pray  you 
in  Christ's  stead  be  ye  reconciled  to  God"  (2  Cor. 
V.  20).  My  dear  sons,  I  pray  for  you  to  my  Lord 
Jesus;  He  is  saying,  For  My  blood,  and  My  wounds* 
sake,  come.     It  is  no  marvel  Christ  hath  a  count  J 


The  weights.  +  O  !  how  earnest  God  is. 

+  An  account  to  give  in. 


COMMUNION  SERMONS,  357 


above  His  head  as  Mediator,  for  as   Mediator  the 
Father  has  given  the  church  to  His  keeping,  and  it  is 
one  part  of  the  Mediator's  caUing  to  render  a  reckon- 
ing for  His  kingdom,  and  His  subjects  to  His  Father; 
that  He  may  say,  Father,  there  is  the  roll  of  all  the 
names,  all  are  there,  I  have  lost  none ;  and  we  shall 
all  stand  with  Jesus  at  His  back.     Now,  when  Jesus 
has  this  reckoning  to  make,  and  God  has  His  bond 
as  cautioner  of  the  covenant,  it  is  no  wonder  that  He 
cry  oftener  nor*  once,  twice,  or  thrice  upon  His  church. 
For  it  goes  this  way  betwixt  the  Father  and  the  Son; 
the  Father  disposes  and  resigns  so  many  to  the  Son. 
Says  the  Father,  Son,  I  deliver  such  a  man  and  such 
a  woman,  keep  them  and  answer  for  them;  and  Jesus 
gives  His  bond  for  the  receipt  of  them.     Says  Christ, 
**  I,  Jesus,  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  grant  that 
I  have  received  of  My  Father,  so  many  children,  and 
bind  and  oblige  Myself  to  restore  them  all  at  the 
return  of  the  last  judgment."    John  xvii.  6-12,  *^  Thine 
they  were,  and   thou   gavest  them   Me;   those  that 
Thou  gavest  Me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is 
lost."     John  vi.  37,  39,  ^^All  that  the  Father  giveth 
Me  shall  come  to  Me  ;  and  him  that  cometh  unto 
Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ;  but  shall  raise  it  up  at 
the  last  day."     Now  from  this  count  lying  on  Christ's 
head  proceeds  His  earnestness  in  calling  His  church 
to  come,  crying,  O  come  in!  holding  out  His  arms, 
which  is  a  painful  thing.     "  I  have  spread  out  My 
hands  all  the  day  to  a  rebellious  people''  (Isa.  Ixv.  2). 
In  wishing,  Deut.  v.  29,  "  O  that  there  were  such  an 
heart  in  them,  that  they  would  fear  Me,  and  keep  all 
My  commandments."      John  viii.  37,  "If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink."     This  is  a 


*  Oftener  than  onc^. 


358  COMMUNION  SERMONS. 


singular  comfort  to  a  weak  child  of  God,  that  has  a 
true  desire  to  come  to  Christ  Jesus,  and  rise  and 
forsake  the  world ;  Christ  has  also  an  earnest  desire 
that  we  should  come,  and  if  we  would  seek  Him,  with 
earnest  desires,  the  marriage  must  holds  ye  would  do 
Christ  a  pleasure  this  day  if  ye  would  rise,  He  prays 
you ;  My  brethren  (says  He)  for  My  blood's  sake,  be 
reconciled  to  Me  I 

O  !  but  our  Lord  would  like  to  be  in  when  He 
stands,  when  He  knocks  at  the  door  saying,  '^  My 
fair  one  P^  This  is  an  ordinary  epithet,  given  by 
Christ  through  all  this  song  to  His  church,  that  she 
is  called  fair,  pleasant,  and  comely.  Once  for  all  in 
this  place  we  shall  expound  it ;  she  in  herself  is  black 
like  the  moon,  spotted  Kke  the  leopard,  but  she  is 
fair,  because  of  His  inherent  fairness,  with  the  wash- 
ing of  water  by  the  word  (Eph.  v.  26,  27).  But  we 
must  dig  somewhat  further  in  to  seek  the  cause  of 
this  beauty.  Ezek.  xvi.  8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14, 
"  Now  when  I  passed  by  thee,  and  looked  upon 
thee,  behold,  thy  time  was  the  time  of  love,  and  I 
spread  my  skirt  over  thee,  and  covered  thy  nakedness, 
yea,  I  sware  unto  thee,  and  entered  into  a  covenant 
with  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God,  and  thou  becamest 
Mine;  then  washed  I  thee  with  water,  yea,  I 
thoroughly  washed  away  thy  blood  from  thee,  and 
I  anointed  thee  with  oil ;  I  clothed  thee  also  with 
embroidered  work,  and  shod  thee  with  badgers'  skin, 
and  I  girded  thee  about  with  fine  linen,  and  I  covered 
thee  with  silk;  I  decked  thee  also  with  ornaments, 
and  I  put  bracelets  upon  thine  hands,  and  a  chain 
on  thy  neck  :  and  I  put  a  jewel  on  thy  forehead,  and 
earrings  in  thine  ears,  and  a  beautiful  crown  upon  thy 
head.  Thus  wast  thou  decked  with  gold  and  silver, 
and   thy  raiment  was  of  fine  linen,  and   silk,  and 


COMMUNION    SERMONS. 


359 


broidered  work;  thou  didst  eat  fine  flour,  honey, 
and  oil,  and  thou  wast  exceeding  beautiful,  and  thou 
didst  prosper  into  a  kingdom ;  and  thy  renown  went 
forth  among  the  heathen  for  tliy  beauty,  for  it  was 
perfect  through  my  comeliness,  which  I  had  put  upon 
thee,  saith  the  Lord  God.''  The  Lord's  washing  is 
the  cause  of  her  fairness;  or  rather  it  is  Christ's 
fairness,  that  makes  us  fair.  Christ  is  two  ways  fair, 
and  clean :  one  way  as  God  equal  with  the  Father, 
and  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  He  is  all  beauty;  another 
way  as  He  is  Mediator,  and  so  He  borrowed  our 
spots,  and  took  upon  Him  our  sins,  yea,  He  went 
into  the  wine  press  of  the  Father's  wrath,  and  there  did 
free  Himself  and  us  of  the  blot  of  our  sins.  He  being 
our  head  come  out  clean  and  beautiful,  through  His 
perfect  comeliness  (Ezek.  xvi.  14).  He  puts  on  us 
this  beauty;  then,  it  is  our  Lord's  righteousness 
wherewith  we  are  beautiful,  and  righteous  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

But  because  this  beauty  is  scorned  by  the  Church 
of  Rome,  I  ^vilI  labour  to  show  you  how  Christ's 
righteousness  is  ours.  I  observe  tw^o  times  when  we 
are  justified  before  God,  and  set  free  from  the  con- 
demning power  of  the  law  as  a  covenant  of  works. 

1.  When  Christ  died  and  rose  again  for  our  justi- 
fication. 

2.  AVlien  we  believe  in  Christ  dying  and  rising 
again,  and  resting  and  relying  upon  Him  alone  for 
salvation. 

When  Christ  was  summoned,  judged,  and  con- 
demned, we  also  were  summoned,  judged,  and 
condemned  in  Him.  And  as  Christ  ended  the  work 
and  came  out  a  free  man  from  hell,  the  grave,  Satan, 
and  sin,  we  came  out  also  with  Him,  for  we  are  one 
with  Him;  for  Christ  and  we  are  one.     Now,  that 


360  COMMUNION  SERMONS, 


day  that  Christ  digged  the  well  that  made  us  all  clean, 
He  purchased  to  us  His  beauty,  His  comeliness, 
and  His  innocency.  That  day  upon  the  cross,  in 
the  garden,  and  in  the  grave,  Christ  did  spin  that 
long  white  robe  of  His  righteousness,  and  innocency, 
to  be  a  garment  to  us  all.  He  has  fair  velvets  beside 
Him  to  cover  all  the  elect.  Before  we  were  born, 
Christ  made  new  garments  for  us ;  that  was  the  day 
when  our  righteousness  was  bought.  Christ  had  all 
the  elect's  sins  bound  on  His  back,  and  God  look- 
ing to  us  could  see  no  sin,  and  looking  to  Christ  rising 
from  the  dead,  and  having  left  our  sins  in  the  grave 
behind  Him,  God  could  see  sin  neither  in  Him  nor 
in  us.  He  could  not  challenge  Christ,  for  He  had 
died  and  risen  again;  He  could  not  challenge  the  elect, 
for  Christ  had  suffered  for  them,  and  risen  for  them. 
As  Adam  was  our  murderer  by  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit,  before  he  was  our  father,  and  made  us  guilty 
before  we  were  born ;  so  Jesus  saved  us  ere  we  who 
now  live  were  born;  and  had  righteousness  ready, 
as  one  has  a  garment  shapen  and  made  for  a  child 
that  is  not  yet  born.  But  there  is  another  court, 
which  is  the  judgment  and  court-hall  of  conscience, 
wherein  conscience  does  accuse  us  as  guilty  sinners, 
and  sets  up  a  tribunal  in  the  soul,  and  reads  the  book 
of  the  law,  and  makes  the  poor  sinner  see  he  is 
under  God's  curse  and  God's  wrath.  Here  the  child 
of  God  is  feared  to  look  God  in  the  face,  for  fear  God 
see  sin  in  him,  and  see  his  filthy  raggedness;  and 
therefore  he  runs  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  there 
puts  on  a  garment  of  Christ's  righteousness.  The 
apostle  says,  Romans  iii.  25,  that  ^^God  set  forth" 
Christ  (as  in  an  open  market  place)  ^^to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation through  faith  in  His  blood,  to  declare  His 
righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past, 


COMMUNION  SERMONS.  361 


through  the  forbearance  of  God."  Christ  is  even  the 
Lord's  wardrobe  (to  speak  so)  to  all  poor  sinners  that 
come  to  Christ  for  a  garment  or  clothes  washen  in 
our  Lord's  blood.  Wash  ye,  then,  in  that  blood,  and 
God  cannot  see  through  that  garment  which  makes  a 
sinner  so  comely  and  fair  that  Jesus  has  reason  to  call 
her  His  "  love  "  and  His  '^  fair  one.'' 

Use  I.  Beloved,  who  knows  how  long  and  how  large 
the  web  of  Christ's  righteousness  is  ?  AVe  will  be  all 
summoned  one  day  before  the  Judge  that  He  may  see 
us,  and  if  we  come  not  before  Him  in  good  apparel,  it  is 
Death.  Now  our  own  garments  are  ragged  and  torn, 
let  us  borrow  from  Christ,  and  above  all  things  labour 
for  His  righteousness. 

Use  2.  If  we  speak  of  God's  dealings  with  the  con- 
sciences of  men,  many  Christians  wonder  why  God 
should  deal  with  them  so  at  the  last  court  of  the 
general  judgment,  to  make  them  see  their  sins,  and 
cause  their  consciences  to  convict  and  summon,  when 
in  the  meantime,  that  day  that  Christ  died,  their  debt 
was  paid,  their  bill  was  answered,  and  the  Judge 
appeased,  and  all  paid  and  scored  out.  Answer,  As 
it  is  known  that  some  men  are  never  sure  of  their  in- 
heritance until  their  rights  be  called  in  question  before 
the  judge,  and  then  they  get  an  absolution,  and  their 
rights  made  sure  :  so  it  is  good  our  consciences  should 
summon  us  before  God,  for  by  this  means  we  get  a 
decree  of  absolution  or  absolviture,*  so  that  at  the  last 
court  of  the  general  judgment,  we  may  say  to  God, 
Lord,  remember  such  a  day  that  I  was  by  my  con- 
science summoned  before  Thee,  but  before  I  went 
home  Thy  Spirit  assured  my  conscience  of  the  forgive- 
ness of  my  sins,  and  Christ  by  His  Spirit  did  write  an 

The  term  in  Scots  law  for  acquittal. 


362  COMMUmON  SERMONS. 


absolution  in  my  heart.  "  Indeed  (Christ  says)  I  can- 
not deny  My  own  hand-write;"  and  when  the  Spirit  is 
called,  He  cannot  but  say,  ''  I  will  not  deny  the  truth, 
it  was  so  indeed.''  And  when  the  Judge's  count-book* 
is  looked,  all  is  fair  scored  out,  and  paid,  that  day 
that  Christ  died.  Yet  the  Christian  has  need  daily  to  be 
going  to  the  blood  of  Christ  to  get  his  sins  washed  away. 

"  Arise  a?id  corned — This  coming  is  faith.  This  ris- 
ing is  a  setting  of  the  heart  up  to  heaven,  where  Christ 
is  at  God's  right  hand.  And  these  are  fitly  conjoined 
together.  We  see  faith  will  not  suffer  a  man  to  sleep, 
but  draws  the  soul  upwards.  Abraham  was  a  man  like 
us  ;  yet  that  made  him  never  to  seek  a  settled  dwelling 
in  the  earth,  he  looked  to  a  city  with  an  eye  of  faith, 
for  a  city  that  has  a  foundation.  So  Moses'  faith  is 
commended,  Heb.  xi.  24,  25,  26.  He  was  no  earthly- 
minded  man,  he  made  small  estimation  to  be  the  son 
of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  to  play  the  courtier.  The 
word  signifies  that  he  looked  away  from  that;  faith  set 
his  face  to  a  contrary  point  of  the  compass,  where  he 
looked  to  the  recompense  of  the  reward.  The  like  we 
see  in  the  thief  at  Christ's  right  hand  ;  he  had  no  mind 
to  this  life,  as  the  other  had,  who  esteemed  it  his  happi- 
ness to  come  do^Mi  from  the  cross.  So  then,  I  make 
great  question  if  a  worldly-minded  man  has  faith,  for 
the  love  of  the  world  is  a  lying  upon  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  but  faith  is  a  rising  and  coming  to  Christ.  See 
Heb.  X.  34,  35,  *^For  ye  had  compassion  of  me  in  my 
bonds,  and  took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your  goods, 
knowing  in  yourselves  that  ye  have  in  heaven  a  better 
and  an  enduring  substance.  Cast  not  away  therefore  your 
confidence,  which  hath  great  recompence  of  reward." 

To  God  be  praise,  both  now  and  for  ever  more  ! 

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Price  6(f.,  Limp  Cloth,  9d.,  Fifth  Edition. 
Jesus  Passing  By:  or  Truths  for  a  Time  of  Awak- 
ening.   By  the  Rev.  R.  S.  Hutton,  M.A.,  Cambusnethan. 


Price  6d.,  Cloth,  Is. 
Taken   from   the    Plough:    a   Memoir   of  Robert 
Thomson.     By  the  Rev.  Alexander  Andrew,  Glasgow. 


4-^- 


Glasgow:  Charles  Glass  k  Co,,  85  Maxwell  Street, 


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